When it Rains
by Rainstorm03
Summary: "I fight so that the people I love don't have to. And if I get a little banged up myself, then so be it." FLight. Happy FangRai February! Set in a slight AU where XIII-2 and LR:XIII didn't happen
1. Teaser

**Thought I'd celebrate FangRai February (Forever) with a fic! Plus it helps me practice for my Creative Writing course. ^^'' **

**Enjoy! **

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><p>The weather on Gran Pulse was something of a reflection of the world itself: powerful and unpredictable.<p>

Torrential rains pounded the grassy earth below while vicious lightning danced across the sky. The thunder seemed to boom so loudly that it shook the trees and frightened the wildlife into hiding. One would have to be crazy or desperate to attempt travel in a storm like the one that was currently raging.

As it turns out, the rider of the lone gorgonopsid currently tearing across the sodden plains was just that. Well, sure he was a bit crazy. Most people in the newly established Guardian Corps Anti-Beast Unit had to be missing a few screws in order to take on the kind of work that was laid on them regularly. But right now he was mostly just desperate. Desperate to make it back to New Bodhum, back to civilization, back to a doctor before it was too late. He was running out of time.

Looking down at the limp, bloodied figure in his arms, the man grit his teeth, willing the huntress to live.

"Just, hang on…_Fang._"


	2. Chapter 1

_The night before…_

"Hey Fang! How'd it go?"

Fang looked up from her empty drink with a tired but triumphant grin.

"Great! The bastards didn't know what hit them."

Lebreau returned her grin before sliding another glass across the counter towards the Pulsian, whose reflexes allowed her to catch it with ease.

"Congrats." She then nodded to the drink. "On the house."

Fang nodded her thanks before turning to her companion, who was currently lost in thought.

"Gran Pulse to Caleb, are you in there? You alright?"

Her companion jolted slightly before grinning sheepishly at her, her accented voice pulling him back to reality.

"Am I alright? I should be the one asking you that. You're the one who was thrown around like an old moogle doll today."

"Hush you. It's just a cracked rib or two," Fang threw an anxious glace towards Lebreau, who was thankfully busy with another patron. Not that she really cared if her bartender friend knew that she had been injured taking down the pack of lobos earlier that day. But Lebreau was connected to Snow, who was connected to Serah, who was the little sister of her roommate, who also happened to be the… well, the object of her affection. Unreciprocated, of course, but Fang was handling it well enough, or so she thought. And if Lightning found out she was injured, all hell would rain down.

Caleb shook his head. "You were pretty damn reckless today, Fang. You're damn lucky Kodi and I were there to back your ass up."

Fang clicked her tongue and gave the man a half-hearted shove. "I can handle myself. I've been taking on bigger beasts since before you were born, _kid_."

Caleb snorted and turned around on his seat to lean against the bar. While it was true that _chronologically_ she's was by far his senior, _physically_ they were the same age. It's amazing what being in crystal stasis could do for a person. She had survived hundreds of years in a crystal, but was physically only a little over 24 years old.

It had been three years since Fang and Vanille had awakened from their slumber inside the giant pillar of crystal. Shortly after, they had reunited with their friends and started a new life in New Bodhum. Vanille had begun work assisting Serah with the kids at the school and Fang had picked up a position taking out any Gran Pulsian beasts that happened to wander too close to their little society with the newly established GCAB. Of course NORA was still active, but they mostly did their work within city limits, as kind of a city defense team. Fang enjoyed hunting out in the wilderness. On some jobs she'd work alone, but on most, especially recently, she worked with her partner aka the man sitting beside her.

Caleb was a bit taller than she was, with raven hair and ice blue eyes. Muscular and handsome, he was considered a heartthrob among the ladies, but tended to focus far too much on his work as an officer to take much interest in having a relationship. Still, he had a good heart and balanced out her sometimes devil-may-care attitude with a no-nonsense-on-the-job demeanor. When he wasn't working he was actually a fairly laid back guy. He could play guitar and sing, and often did so at Lebreau's bar on the weekends. He also had strange taste in pets.

Kodi, her other "partner", was an over-grown gorgonopsid with several spikes missing on his back, making him a perfect mount to ride across the vast Archylte Steppe. The beast was a gentle giant that Caleb had found abandoned and sick when they both were young. Fang still felt a bit bad for almost killing the big guy when she had first saw him playing with some local kids. The gorgonopsid was like a giant puppy.

Smiling into the last of her drink at the memory, Fang stood from the bar seat.

"I should probably get headed for home. I'm sure 'Nille and Sunshine are wondering what ate me for dinner by now." Patting the man on the shoulder, Fang nodded to Lebreau who returned her farewell with a wave. "Take it easy, yeah?"

"Yeah, you too. Try to get some rest. I'm sure they'll have more _fun_ for us tomorrow."

Fang snorted and turned to leave.

"Oh and Fang?"

"Hm?"

"You should tell her before she finds out on her own."

Fang froze. Glancing over her shoulder, she found Caleb staring at her intently, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Tell her…what?"

Caleb smirked knowingly. "About your wounds of course. What else would I be taking about?"

Fang narrowed her eyes slightly, lips curving into a smirk of her own. "Right. I'll handle it."

His grin widened. "You didn't answer my question."

"Night Caleb."

Fang shook her head as she walked out the door. She stopped briefly to affectionately pat a sleepy Kodi, who was dozing patiently outside while his master unwound in the crowded bar after the day's big hunt. The beast nuzzled her hand before resting his over-sized head back on his paws. Leaving the beast to rest, Fang walked over to her velocycle and headed for home.

The ride home was uneventful and by the time she reached the front door, she found she could hardly keep her eyes open and the soreness in her side had returned with a vengeance. Fishing out her key, she pushed it into the lock and stumbled through the door.

-x-x-x-

Lightning paced the semi-dark room, dressed in a t-shirt and some black shorts that only reached her mid-thigh. Her agitation was building with every minute that passed.

_Where the hell was she?_

No one could get under Lightning's skin like that damn Pulsian woman. No one could just effortlessly bulldoze through the walls she spent years building up like she could. She doubted the other woman even realized it, and though she would never admit it, that woman was the only person, besides her sister, that Lightning cared enough (and worried enough) about to stay up this late waiting for. And she wasn't talking about Vanille.

And she was late. She should have been back hours ago. Vanille hadn't seemed concerned and had long been asleep in her room. She had said Fang was probably out grabbing a drink with _Caleb_.

Lightning found herself growling at the mere thought of his name. For some reason she just didn't like the man. Sure, he seemed nice enough, but for some reason she couldn't help but hold a distrust for him. Serah, her natural confidant, had once gone as far as to suggest that she was jealous of him. She had scoffed at the notion, but the more she thought about it the harder she had to work to convince herself that it false.

Sighing, Lightning pressed two fingers into the bridge of her nose.

_You're being ridiculous Farron. Fang can take care of herself._

Throwing one last glance at the door, she spun on her heel and headed for her room. She had work in the morning and didn't run well on little sleep.

Before she even made it half way, the click of the front door opening caused her to bolt right back to the living room.

Lightning arrived and managed to compose herself just as a very exhausted looking Fang stumbled through the door, unaware of the soldier's presence. Despite her slightly worn appearance, Lightning couldn't help but let her eyes wander over the other woman's body. The huntresses wore a black button down shirt that was unbuttoned just enough to show off the camisole beneath. Her dark blue jeans fit well enough to be practical but were tight enough to show off her curves. She still wore her Oerban necklace, and had the tattered brown jacket with the GCAB insignia patched onto it slung over her shoulder alongside her lance. Thank Etro, the room was dark enough to hide the blush that was creeping into Lightning's face. Fang's work attire made her look very sexy…

_Stop it, Farron._

"Where have you been?"

Fang looked up and offered a somewhat uneasy grin. Turning, she placed the jacket on a hook and leaned her lance against the wall.

"Hello to you too, Sunshine. Went to Lebreau's with Caleb. Wanted to unwind a bit."

Lightning scowled slightly before crossing her arms and turning her back to Fang.

"How was the hunt?" Suddenly finding interest in the pile of mail on the counter, Lightning changed the subject quickly.

"Fine. You don't usually stay up this late. Everything okay?"

Lightning hesitated. "Vanille just wanted to make sure you made it home safe. I told her I'd stay up and watch for you. You…you weren't injured, were you?"

Fang had a confused look cross her features briefly, but then smiled, awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck. "Not bad enough for it to matter. Sorry I worried you."

Lightning tensed slightly, before glancing over her shoulder and giving an indifferent shrug.

"I wasn't worried."

Fang winced slightly, hurt briefly evident in her eyes but quickly masked with exhaustion. "Right. Um…I'm gonna head to bed. Night."

Lightning watched as a deflated Fang disappeared into the dark hallway. As soon as heard the bedroom door click, Lightning let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and let her head fall into her hands. _Superb fucking job, Farron._

"Fuck."

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><p><strong>Let me know what you think!<strong>


	3. Chapter 2

Fang woke several times during the night due to the aching throb in her side. By the time dawn broke, she felt just as tired and hurt as she did when she first went to bed.

_No rest for the weary. But I'd much rather fight exhausted than leave the fighting to 'Nille or Hope or Little Farron…or Light._

She knew they were all more than capable of taking care of themselves (especially Little Farron with her bow), but for some reason she took comfort in knowing that she was doing something to protect them from what she could. While Lightning was still a soldier, much like the NORA team, she mostly worked within city limits and in correspondence with other nearby settlements, so she wasn't as prone to direct combat as often as Fang was.

Sighing, Fang swung her legs off the bed. Wincing as she stood, she began to short walk to her closet for clean work clothes. Before she could even make it half way, the world started to violently spin and the dull ache became excruciatingly sharp. Crouching down to steady herself, Fang found that she had to remind herself to breath, as the pain made her body completely freeze up.

After several long minutes, the pain subsided enough for her to regain her balance. Stumbling to her feet, she made her way to the mirror and lifted her shirt. Her side was black, crimson, and heavily swollen. Frowning, she gently lowered her shirt. _Maybe I should call in today._

Stiffly and carefully dressing herself, Fang pulled on loose fitting jeans and a t-shirt. When she was done, she stepped out into the hallway and gingerly made her way to the kitchen. The smell of breakfast and coffee, and the sound of soft humming made her smile. Vanille must be up. Back in Oerba, it was considered strange to not be up at sunrise, so the two were notorious for being up in the early hours of morning, much to their roommate's annoyance.

"Morning 'Nille."

The chipper redhead spun around to face her, spatula in hand and a beaming smile on her face.

"Fang! We wondering when you were coming home. I take it the hunt went well?"

Fang smiled. "Well enough. Light told me you were worried about me. You know me better than that."

Vanille giggled and turning back to the pan on the stove. "_I _was worried? She was the one pacing all over and watching the clock like a wyvern!"

Fang blinked a couple of times. "So wait…what?"

Vanille looked over her shoulder with a mischievous grin. "You know, if I didn't know better I'd think that Light's got a bit of a crush on you. That would explain why she's always so worried when you're not home on time."

_"Always" worried?_

Fang suddenly felt very confused, and found her face a bit heated at Vanille's comment. "Good thing you know better, yeah?" she mumbled, mostly to herself.

Vanille shrugged and went back to humming her song.

Fang sighed and shook her head before turning to retreat to the couch. After taking a few steps, she suddenly felt her vision begin to blur again and pain constrict her chest. Placing one hand on the wall to steady herself, she placed the other on her side in an attempt to suppress the pain. Before she knew it, she was on her knees fighting for air. A confused call of her name followed by a panicked cry of "Lightning!" briefly penetrated the disabling blur that surrounded her, before it completely blinded her senses from everything but the pain.

She vaguely felt someone get beneath one of her arms and help her to her feet. She had to bite down on a yelp of pain as they began to move to sit down on the couch. After several minutes of holding perfectly still as she had before, the pain subsided, lifting the blur and revealing a pair of brilliant blue eyes staring at her. Exhaling a shaky breath, she glanced around to find Lightning kneeling in front of her, her hands resting on Fang's knees, concern evident in her eyes. Vanille sat tearfully beside her, holding her hand.

Managing a sheepish smile, Fang squeezed Vanille's hand. "Heh, sorry about that."

Lightning's eyes narrowed, and despite the concern still evident in her features, the sharpness in her voice made Fang grimace.

"I thought you said you weren't injured."

"I said not bad enough to matter, and I didn't think I was."

Lightning growled. "Obviously you were wrong."

The two starred each other down for several moments before Vanille popped up.

"I'm gonna go get some ice!"

The two remaining women watched the bubbly girl bounce off to the kitchen before turning back to one another. Lightning gently lifted Fang's shirt enough to see the wound, before standing up and cursing.

"How could you be so careless?"

"It was just an accide-"

"And where the hell was that _partner_ of yours when you were this badly injured? Isn't he supposed to be watching your back?"

"Caleb did the best he could. I wouldn't be here if he _hadn't_ been watching my back."

"So you're saying you were just being reckless!"

"I- what, no!"

"Dammit Fang, what the hell were you thinking?! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

"I have my reasons for doing what I did."

"Really Fang? And what reasons would those be? 'Cause I get the feeling that the only reason you joined the Guardian Corps was so you could continue to get your adrenaline fix."

Fang growled, stood up, and closed the distance between the soldier and herself.

"I fight so that 'Nille and Hope and Serah and you and everyone else I care about doesn't have to. Some things in life you just you just do, remember? So what if I'm a little banged up when I come home, it makes me feel better."

Lightning stood her ground. "How the hell are you gonna protect anyone if you can't even take care of yourself? How are you gonna help anyone if you come back in a body bag?!"

"_I don't know_! But it's the only way I know how. So excuse me, _Sunshine_, if that offends you so much."

"Your recklessness is foolish. You know what? Go get yourself killed, see if I care."

Fang hesitated, gritting her teeth, eyes seeming to searching the floor for something non-existent, before looking up once again to lock eyes with Lightning's.

"Don't mind if I do."

Spinning on her heel and clutching her side, Fang stalked towards the door, grabbing her jacket and lance as she went.

"Fang! Fang, wait!" Vanille tore around the corner after her sister, but the sound of the door slamming stopped her. Soon after, the sound of the velocycle starting up and taking off signaled Fang's departure.

Vanille let out a frustrated noise before turning to Lightning, who still stood with her arms crossed in the living room. "You two need to kiss and make up! I mean just get it over with already! You two are driving me crazy!"

Lightning growled and stormed off to her room, the door slamming behind her.

Clicking her tongue in disapproval, Vanille grabbed her jacket and set out to talk to Serah. Maybe she would have some ideas on how to fix this.


	4. Chapter 3

Fang was practically seething by the time she made it to the Guardian Corps headquarters, the words Lightning had said slowly searing their way into her brain. Completely oblivious to her surrounds, she stormed through the building, making her way to the captain's office. When she arrived she knocked hastily on the door. It didn't take long before a muffled "come in!" was heard, and she pressed through the door.

"Ah, Yun! To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Fang gave a rushed salute. "Captain Rayes. I'm here to request an assignment. Anything will do."

The captain frowned. "Well, Yun there really hasn't been any calls today…"

"Nothing?" Fang's shoulders slumped.

Captain Rayes stood from his desk. "Is everything okay, Fang?"

"Yeah. Yeah, everything's fine."

Rayes starred at her for several moments before letting out a sigh. Folding his arms across his chest he walked over to a map of New Bodhum and the surround area. "There was one call today. I was going to send a squadron in later today, as I think it is too dangerous for one of two people to manage alone-"

"I'll take it!"

The captain turned to her, an eyebrow raised.

"I mean…Please, Sir. Let me handle this one. You know I'm the best prepared out of all the GCAB to handle anything native to Gran Pulse."

Captain Rayes seemed to consider for a moment before shaking his head. "I'm sorry Yun. It's way too dangerous for one person to handle alone, no matter how well trained they are."

"Then let me go with her."

Fang jumped at the voice behind her. Turning, she found Caleb standing in the door way, a fairly stern expression on his face.

Walking into the room, Caleb saluted the captain. "Sir, I believe Fang and I can handle this assignment together."

"Richter, are you sure you want to go through with this? I had intended this mission to be a whole squadron's endeavor."

Caleb hesitated a moment. "Sir, with all due respect, Yun and I are the best the GCAB has. Let us take care of this."

Rayes glanced between the two of them before finally relenting. "Alright you two, I'll let you take on this assignment.

"Thank you, Sir," Fang let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

"Don't go thanking me yet. There is one condition."

Fang and Caleb glanced at each other in confusion. "Sir?"

"You both need to come back alive."

The two fell silent as they let their captain's words sink in.

"Sir…" Caleb glanced at Fang. "What is our target?"

The Captain of the GCAB sighed.

"A Giga-behemoth."

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><p>"We're going to take on a giga-behemoth in the middle of a Pulsian storm, Fang? Have you lost your damn mind?!"<p>

Caleb had to yell over the whipping wind the stirred up as they rode on Kodi across the Steppe. The rain was already starting to drizzle down and Pulse wasn't exactly known for its pleasant springtime showers. Fang rode in front with Caleb sitting behind her.

"No one said you had to be along for the ride, Caleb. I just…I just need something to fight."

"Dammit Fang this is a suicide mission!"

"I'm glad you have so much faith in me!" Fang snapped at him over her shoulder.

"I have faith in you, you know that! I know you're a damn good fighter! But we're talking about a _giga_-behemoth! You know, those huge sons of bitches who wipe out whole squadrons of GC recruits practically every time we go up against them? This is reckless even for you!"

Another growl escaped the Pulsian woman. "You know, that word seems to be thrown around a lot as late."

Caleb shook his head. Fang may have some self-preservation issues, a quality she usually sacrificed for rash altruism, but this was crazy even for her. _She only gets this upset when…_

"You had a fight with Lightning, didn't you?"

"_Kodi, stop_!"

The gorgonopsid lurched to a sudden stop, diggings his claws into the ground, almost sending Caleb flying off of his back. Regaining his composure, Caleb had to scramble to keep up with Fang who had already dismounted Kodi.

"Fang, what the hell?!" She kept walking. Racing to catch up with her, Caleb caught her by the arm, halting her progress. "Dammit Fang, talk to me."

"I don't want to talk about it!"

"Fang I'm your partner! For the love of the Gods, I'm your friend! I'm worried about you. You've got your heart set on this suicide mission and I want to know why!"

Lightning and thunder crashed overhead. The storm was beginning to become violent as the rain picked up exponentially.

Fang starred out across the Steppe. It seemed most of the creatures were hiding from the storm, only a few very large ones remaining to brave it.

"Fang?" Caleb's voice softened. _She must really be hurting to be throwing herself at an assignment like this._

"This isn't just an adrenaline fix for me, you know."

Caleb got a confused look on his face. "I know that, Fang. I know why you do what you do. You do it to protect the people you love. That seems to be the only reason you ever do anything."

Fang kept quiet.

"Fang…look, whatever you and Lightning fought about, you know she didn't mean it-"

"Do I, Caleb?"

"If you don't, you should. Whether you want to realize it or not, Lightning cares about you. I mean _really_ cares about you. Farron just really sucks at showing it, that's all. I swear she's only capable of expressing, like, a teaspoon's range of emotions. But she probably got pissed off because when you hurt, she hurts. And that probably makes her feel weak. She's not used to caring that much for anyone except for her sister. Did you come out and tell her that you were hurt like I told you to?"

Fang crossed her arms and moved to lean against Kodi, who sat patiently awaiting his master's orders. "Not exactly, I guess."

Caleb made a face that clearly expressed that he was unimpressed.

"Look, I didn't want her to worry. I thought it would be better if she didn't know. She's got enough to worry about with her job and her sister."

Caleb shook his head and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "So instead of trying to talk it out with someone, you rush head first into the most dangerous job you can find?"

Fang shrugged. "I just wanted to take my frustration out on something. Her words...stung a bit."

"Look, how about we head back to town. We can say we didn't find the target because it hid from the storm, which obviously isn't a lie." Caleb motioned around to the pouring rain and seemingly desolate Steppe. "We can go back and relax at Lebreau's, throw back some drinks, and hell, I'm feeling generous, maybe I'll see if Jaxon and Elias are around and we can play a few songs. Then you can go home, kiss and make up with Farron, and hell maybe you'll even get lucky tonight.

_Thwack._

Caleb chuckled and ducked just in case another blow was about to land on the back of his head. "Ow, jeez Yun. Okay, I guess I deserved that."

"Damn right you did."

Suddenly turning serious again, Caleb put his hand on her shoulder. "You really should tell her though. And I'm not talking about your injuries this time."

Fang shook her head, awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck. "Is it that obvious?"

Caleb smiled and nodded.

Letting out a sigh, Fang looked up at the stormy sky just as a streak of lightning tore across it. "I don't think…I mean, I just don't think she…"

"Only one way to find out."

Fang just chuckled nervously and shook her head again.

Caleb smiled at his partner as he went to pat Kodi on the head. "Come on. Let's head back. Tomorrow we can gather up a small squadron, and take down the big bastard together. This is definitely not a job for just two people."

Fang gave an uneasy smile and started towards Kodi and Caleb.

Suddenly the ground began to shake violently, as if an adamantoise was coming their way but _much _faster.

"Aw, hell."

Needing no further sign that a fight was eminent, Fang quickly pulled her lance off her back and got into a fighting stance just as the source of the earth quaking appeared over the hill.

Standing twice as tall and twice as ugly as any king behemoth (with a personality to match), the giga-behemoth let loose an ear-shattering roar.

"Looks like this assignment just became a two person job, Caleb."

Caleb let out a snort and pulled the energy rifle from its holster on his back, gaving Fang a final nod of consent to engage. Kodi jumped forward to join the fight and protect his master and his master's partner, letting out a vicious roar of his own.

Turning back towards the giant beast, Fang gave a defiant smirk.

"Well, come on then!"


	5. Chapter 4

**Hi guys! Doing what I can to keep up on this story! ****I am probably going to use this story as more or less an experiment for my Creative Writing course. At the end of my college semester (May 16 or so) I will try to go back over this and add/subtract/change/revise to see what I've improved on and such. So bear with me for now!**

**Also, I'm trying to make my chapters a bit longer. **

**Enjoy and please tell me what you think!**

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><p>Heavy rain was a difficult element to fight in. The glistening drops not only made the ground slippery, but tended they to get in one's eyes, causing the world to blur, obscuring critical things that were crucial to victory. On the other hand, the enemy almost always shared the same disadvantages.<p>

In Fang's case, it wasn't just the rain that made the world hazy before her eyes but also the ever-growing pain in her side. It made her sluggish as she fought, reducing her stellar fighting skills to a mere fraction of what they usually were. Luckily though, the rain seemed to be causing the brutal giga-behemoth to become uncharacteristically clumsy. This put the two at equal, and had it just been the two fighting, the battle probably would have not concluded until one of them either gave up or became too exhausted to continue. Fortunately, Fang had the advantage of fighting with two other skilled fighters.

None the less, the battle seems to have been going on for hours. Fang leaned heavily on her lance, just trying to keep up right. The giga-behemoth was more powerful than she expected. She honestly was amazed that they were fairing as well as they did.

Glancing to her left she saw an exhausted Caleb reloading his weapon as fast as he could. To her right was a slightly injured Kodi, pacing and waiting for his opponent to give an opportunity to strike. None of them were going to last much longer if the fight continued.

"I think it's about time we ended this, yeah?" Grunting as her side protested the movement, Fang broke out in full sprint towards the almost-staggered beast.

Sensing the movement, the worn-down giga-behemoth moved to dodge, only to slip on the sodden grass, leaving it open and vulnerable. Taking the opportunity, both Fang and Kodi lunged at the beast, while Caleb closed in on it with his rifle.

The staggered beast let out an enraged roar under the barrage of attacks. Apparently agreeing with Fang on ending the fight, the giga-behemoth reared back on to its hind legs and swung at its attackers. Jumping back, Fang barely missed the beast's razor sharp claw. Releasing another ear-shattering roar, the creature renewed its vitality and began to charge for another onslaught of attacks.

"Fang! We have to fall back, we're not strong enough to take it down this way!"

Fang let out a frustrated growl and shook her head, partly to show her disagreement in his plans and partly in an attempt to shake away the thick haze settling in her vision. "If we retreat now we'll lead it back to New Bodhum. There are too many civilians for there not to be any causalities with this thing on the loose. We have to end this here!"

"Dammit Fang, we- _look out__!_"

Fang turned her head back just in time to see the beast casting a spell. The magic surrounded her, blacking out the rest of the world. Wrapping around her, it quickly became suffocating as it seemingly seeped into her skin. Gasping to pull in any air she could, Fang collapsed to her knees. After what seemed like several minutes, the darkness cleared but her vision did not. Looking down at her open wounds, she noticed a black mist-like coating covering each. As she tried to touch the mist, her fingers slipped through and grazed the wound making her wince.

"Fang, are you hurt? What happened?" Caleb slid down beside her, catching her to steady her unsteady frame. In front of them, Kodi distracted the giga-behemoth, the gorgonopsid's agile form continuously leaping just out of the larger beast's reach.

"A curse. Bar-heal," Fang coughed, wiping off a bit of blood from her split lip, the remnant of an earlier strike.

"Shit. That'll make fixing you up real fun. Come on." Caleb helped her to her feet, careful not to agitate her ribs any more than they already were.

"Thanks." Fang stumbled over to her fallen lance and scooped it up.

"Kodi! Come on, buddy, we gotta finish this!" Caleb called out, slamming his last clip of energy rounds into the end of the rifle.

The gorgonopsid let out a growl of agreement mid-leap. Sticking a graceful landing, the smaller beast flipped around to face the larger beast before charging at it full speed. Following swiftly behind him, Caleb fired everything he had at the creature. Fang followed suit and stumbled towards the beast, lance at the ready.

The behemoth let out a pained roar as one of the energy rounds ripped through the soft tissue of first one of its eye, then the second. The now-blinded creature began swinging aimlessly in hopes to strike one of its three enemies.

Suddenly, Kodi let out a sharp cry as one of the behemoth's claws struck true, sending the gorgonopsid rolling back several yards.

"Kodi!" Caleb yelled out, immediately turning to run to his beast's side, but hesitated to glance back at Fang.

"Go! I can hold 'im off!" Fang nodded to him.

Stepping up to face the beast, she could tell it was running on fumes. Then again, so was she.

"Your fight's with me!" Fang provoked the raging creature to keep its attention off Caleb and the fallen Kodi.

Sensing the voice, the gigantic creature turned towards her, continuing its wild thrashing. Fang ducked and rolled, dodging the crushing blows by mere millimeters. By the time the creature paused its assault to steady itself, Fang found herself barely able to remain on her feet. The blur in her vision intensified and her knees gave out. Catching herself with her hands, Fang managed to look up at the behemoth right as it swung back to deliver a devastating blow.

"FANG!"

Time seemed to slow, as the creature brought it claw across to collide with her body. Even the lightning, as it raced the thunder across the sky seemed to have slowed to witness the end of her struggle. Sound momentarily became nonexistent, and all Fang could think about was Lightning and what she would think when she actually did return in a body bag, her own blind recklessness leading to her demise. She wondered what it would have been like if she had actually taken Caleb's advice and had told Lightning how she really felt. Maybe things would be different. Maybe instead of kneeling here looking up at the creature who was delivering her death, they would be curled up on the couch watching a movie with their little sisters and Snow, Hope, Sazh, and Dahj. Maybe they would be happy. Then again, maybe not. Maybe Lightning would outright reject her, laugh in her face. Maybe she'd lose her forever.

Guess she'd never know.

Then, as if time finally caught up with itself, the sounds around her returned, deafening her as the thunder roared across the sky. It was as if a bullet train hit her side, a loud crunching sound signaling that the beast's claw had made contact. Fang's body was tossed to the side, landing with a most sickening _thump_ before rolling several times to a final stop.

"Fang!" Caleb didn't even have a chance to move before Kodi, only mildly injured, leapt in to action, landing atop the giga-behemoth. Crashing to the ground, the smaller gorgonopsid sank its teeth into the much larger beast's neck, before giving a violent jerk. The beast's neck gave a loud _crack _and then nothing. Limping off of the lifeless behemoth, Kodi made his way to the fallen Fang. Nuzzling her motionless body with his nose, Kodi let out a mournful noise before looking to Caleb.

Snapping out of his stupor, Caleb finally managed to put his numb body into motion, stumbling to where his fallen partner lay. Collapsing to his knees beside her, his fingers immediately sought out the pulse point on her neck.

"She's alive," Caleb let out a breath in amazement.

Her pulse was faint but definitely there. He needed to move fast though. Gathering the fallen huntress into his arms, Caleb struggled to his feet. His body protested the extra weight, despite it being a relatively small amount.

"Kodi, we gotta go, we don't have much time!"

The gorgonopsid grunted in agreement as Caleb pulled himself and his partner on the beast's back.

As soon as his master was safely secured on his back with Fang in his arms, Kodi began the long run back to New Bodhum.

Bracing Fang as much as he could against the jolting of their mount's strides, all Caleb could do was pray that Fang made it until they got to the city.

But even that would just be the beginning of their problems.

-x-x-x-

Something was wrong.

Lightning had been pacing her usual route in the living room for what seemed like hours, anxiously awaiting the dark haired Pulsian's return. She hadn't meant what she said. Of course she cared about Fang. Her temper had just gotten the better of her.

But something was definitely wrong. Fang should have been back by now, and while she usually was a bit late coming home, tonight she was several hours late. And to make matters worse, a violent Pulsian storm was making its way over New Bodhum from the Archylte Steppe.

The rational side of her mind did its best to convince her that Fang was just pissed off and would come home at some ungodly hour in the early morning. Her instincts, on the other hand, were telling her something was terribly wrong. She had images flashing in her mind of Fang lying on side of the road pinned underneath a wrecked velocycle or lying in the middle of the Steppe torn open by some vicious Pulse beast.

Sighing and pausing to rest her hand over her brand scar, Lightning shock her head clear of those images.

_You're overreacting Farron. Fang can take care of herself._

Suddenly, the front door clicked open, accompanied by footsteps shuffling through the threshold and into the entryway.

_Oh thank the gods._

"Fang?" Lightning let out a sigh. "Look, I-"

"Fang?" Vanille popped her head around the corner. "She's not home yet?"

Lightning rested a hand on her hip and frowned at the younger Pulsian woman. "No."

"Huh, that's weird. I thought it was her day off." Serah stepped into view from behind Vanille.

Lightning stepped forward to give her little sister a brief hug. "It was…"

Serah nodded her head knowingly. "I heard you two had a fight."

Throwing Vanille an annoyed glare, Lightning found herself shifting uncomfortably where she stood, but didn't say anything. Vanille merely shrugged before skipping off towards her room, humming a sweet tune.

"Be right back, Serah. Just gotta grab something from my room."

Once the young Pulsian disappeared, Serah gave a slight huff, before grabbing her older sister by the shoulders. "Claire, you need to tell her."

"Serah!" Lightning growled, her face heating up.

"What? It's not like everyone doesn't already know! You follow her around like a love sick puppy, and blush like a school girl whenever she gets within five feet of you."

"Tch. Whatever." Lightning shook her head, and folded her arms across her chest, looking anywhere but her baby sister, because if there was anyone who could see right through her, it was Serah.

"Claire, please. I… I want to see you happy. And when you two aren't butting heads, I _know _you're happy when you're with Fang."

Lightning sighed and lowered her defenses slightly at the look Serah had on her face. It was the notorious "Serah pout", and it got her every time. Vanille had a wicked version of her own but it didn't affect her as much as Serah's did. Fang, on the other hand, fell for it hook, line, and sinker every time.

Shaking her head again Lightning began to fidget. "I…I mean…I don't think she-"

"Don't even start with me Claire."

Looking back up at her sibling, she saw that Serah's face had turned deadly serious.

"Promise me you'll talk to Fang, Claire."

"Serah, please, I-"

"No, Claire! Promise me!"

"Serah, what if she doesn't want me?"

Serah had opened her mouth to protest her sister's reluctance until she processed what Lightning had said. Then her face turned to a look of disbelief.

"Are you serious? How could she not?"

"I'm back! You ready, Serah?" Vanille bounced back into the room, a beaming smile on her face.

"I'm all set! Now we just gotta get Light ready." Serah grinned at her sister mischievously, before spinning her sister around and pushing her towards her room.

"Wha- ready for what?" Lightning glanced apprehensively at Serah over her shoulder, half-heartedly resisting her sister's guidance.

"Why, we're going to Lebreau's, of course." She then added more quietly, "Fang will probably be there. That's where she usually hang's out to unwind, right?"

Lightning swallowed and nodded.

"Good then you can talk to here there."

"But-!"

"No buts! Now get ready!"


	6. Chapter 5

**Enjoy! And please tell me what you think!**

* * *

><p>"You look fine, stop fidgeting!"<p>

Lightning growled as her sister led her by the hand into the bar. She felt ridiculous. Serah had managed to get her into some distressed skinny jeans and a black leather tank top that showed off her stomach. Somehow the loose jeans and fitted t-shirt she had originally picked out were "not suitable for a night at Lebreau's, let alone the night she told the woman she loved how she really felt about her."

Lightning had been so stunned and embarrassed by her little sister's explanation of how the night was "supposed to go" that she had forgot to argue about the attire laid out for her.

"When we find her, you need to pull her aside and just tell her. Be blunt. She love's that about you. And then you two will kiss and she'll take you home, and who knows? You might even lose your virginity tonight! Aww, Fang will totally be in charge. You guys will be so cute!"

_Maker._ She had just wanted to crawl under a rock and hide there for the rest of her life.

The place was crowded as usual, filled with faces, old and new. A catchy dance song played from the speakers around the bar as it seemed there was no live band tonight. On most nights, there would be people sitting outside on the beach, enjoying the warm summer sunset and playing games, but the storm that had hung over the Archylte Steppe had made its way to New Bodhum. Muffled over the loud bar ambience, thunder growled lowly and heavy rain pummeled the roof of the structure. An occasional flash of lightning would briefly add additional light to the already well-lit room, but the storm was really only noticeable if you were close to the door or windows.

From where she stood, Light could see Sazh, Snow, and Gadot standing at the bar talking with Lebreau. She had seen Hope, Yuj, and Maqui as they came in, playing a board game at a table in the corner with Dajh. She had barely managed to nod a "hello" before Serah caught her hand and pulled her further into the mess of people.

"They're over there. Come on Light." Serah pulled her older sister through the crowds of people over to their friends, Vanille trailing behind them.

"Serah! Hey, baby." Snow stood up to greet them, pulling the younger Farron girl into a hug and kissing the top of her head. He gave Lightning a curious look, before tentatively offering a smile. "Ah, hey Light. You look nice."

Lightning merely nodded her thanks, glancing around somewhat anxiously. She had made a promised on Serah and Snow's wedding day that she would work harder to get along with him. So far, she thought she was doing fairly good. Then again, he hadn't done anything really stupid. Yet.

"Hm?" Vanille stood on the tips of her toes, trying to see over the masses of people. "Where's Fang?"

Serah frowned and turned towards the rest of the group. "Hey, have you guys seen Fang tonight?"

The group glanced at each other, shaking their heads and shrugging. Lebreau frowned as well. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen her or Caleb all day. Which is weird, because they're always here after work. But wait, wasn't it Fang's day off? Shouldn't she be with you guys?"

Lightning folded her arms and turned away.

Vanille glanced at Serah out of the corner of her eye. "Uhm, Fang and Light had a little bit of a fight today."

Sazh grimaced slightly. "Ah. Well, no worries. I'm sure she and Caleb will come riding up on that oversized dog of his any minute, with some victorious tale of their latest hunt. You know how that girl is."

They all seemed to accept that as the solution for the missing huntress and her partner, nodding in agreement.

"Hey guys, how's it going?"

The small group turned to see two GCAB soldiers wandering up to them: Jaxon and Elias.

Jaxon was a tall, strong man, with quicksilver eyes and light brown hair. He acted as somewhat of the GACB's heavy artillery expert. He could be a tad bit cocky, and was a bit of a sore loser and a loud mouth, but overall, he was a decent guy.

Elias, on the other hand, stood a bit taller than Lightning with a fairly lean frame and lightly tanned skin. He had darker hair, amber eyes, and a sweet demeanor. He was always helping people, and was one of the few people alive who had any knowledge on medical practices before AMP manadrives were invented. Since said inventions came into existence, traditional medicine had fallen out of practice, making large hospitals obsolete. Elias' knowledge of how doctors had previously taken care of the injured made him a perfect candidate for GCAB's chief medical officer and field medic. Sometimes magic didn't always work.

"Farron. How are you? Been busy lately?" Elias smiled kindly at Lightning, attempting to make friendly conversation.

"Well enough. And you?"

"Not too bad. It's been fairly quiet in the medical wing, so I'm not complaining."

"Hey guys, have you seen Fang or Caleb around?" Vanille looked up at the two gentlemen with a mildly uneasy smile. Lightning frowned. Vanille must be sensing something was off too.

Jaxon and Elias looked at each other then back to the small group.

"Yun and Richter? Last I heard the picked up an assignment out on the Steppe. Beats me what their target was though. They didn't stay at HQ very long." Jaxon rubbed the back of his neck and gave half a shrug.

Just then, there was a small uproar by the front door. It sounded like panic, but there were too many people in the way for Lightning and the other's to see what was going on.

"Great, another fight." Lebreau let out an agitated sigh. "Godot, Snow, you fella's wanna give me a hand?"

Both men nodded and got to their feet.

"Wait, look its Hope!" Vanille pointed to the young former l'cie, currently attempting to clear a path through the crowd alongside Yuj and Maqui.

"Make way! Look out!"

Snow took a step forward. "Hope? What's wrong?"

"_A doctor! I need a goddamned doctor!"_

Caleb's voice boomed at a level no one had heard before. The man was usually fairly quiet.

Pushing his way through the crowd, hunched protectively over a limp figure, the man stumbled through the small path Hope had cleared, moving as fast as his obviously injured body could move.

"Awh hell." Elias jogged to his friend and their fallen comrade. "What ha- holy hell, Yun!"

"Fang?" Vanille's voice cracked.

Lightning suddenly felt extremely ill as she took in the sight of Caleb and Fang.

Both were sopping wet, dripping water heavily, which pooled into large puddles on the wooden floor. Their clothes were torn and there were visible cuts and bruises marring both of their skins. Caleb seemed like he was running on adrenaline alone, gripping a _deadly _still Fang tightly against his body. But what caught Lightning's eye was the large blood stain soaking through Fang's shirt, slowly transferring to Caleb's. That, and the way Fang's hand hung limply from her body.

The world seemed to spin as she found her body moving on its own accord towards Caleb and Fang.

"Fang!" It barely registered to her how sharp and strained her voice had become with panic. Her fingers immediately found their way to Fang's pulse point. She felt a pulse, but only just barely. Pulling the messy hair from the unconscious Pulsian's face, she saw that there was a thin trail of blood dripping from her mouth. Her heart rate jumped with dread, but upon closer inspection she saw that Fang had a cut on her lip. "Oh Maker, Fang…" Her small amount of relief turned to rage as she growled at the man holding the fallen huntress, eyes flashing dangerously. "_What the hell happened?!"_

Caleb returned her agitation with a frustrated growl. "_Stand down_. If she doesn't get help _now_, she will die."

"Bring her back here!" Lebreau motioned for them to bring Fang to the back room. "Maqui! Yuj! Take over for me."

"Watch Dajh for me." Sazh called over his shoulder as the group all jogged to the back room.

The two young men nodded, both wearing expressions of concern and fear.

"Here, I'll take her." Snow gently pulled Fang from Caleb's arms. Grunting a thanks, Caleb used the wall for support as the small group made their way to the back room.

Sweeping her arms across the large wooden table in the center of the room, Lebreau quickly cleared it of everything so that Snow could set Fang down. Lightning grit her teeth as she saw Fang's head loll to the side as her brother-in-law stepped back. The torn t-shirt she wore was sticky with blood and clinging to whatever terrible wound lay beneath it.

Caleb stood panting against the wall, his adrenaline finally running out, leaving him exhausted. "Eli, do you have your kit?"

The young medic shook his head slowly peeling back the huntress's shirt. "I have a manadrive, that should-"

Caleb cut him off, lurching to the side of the table. "You need your kit. She's been cursed, bar-heal."

Taking a closer look at the wounds, Elias took sight of the dark aura surrounding them and began to curse. "Shit! We don't have much time then. What the hell were you two fighting?!"

Caleb shook his head, still trying to regain his breath.

Elias let out a exasperated growl, before turning to Jaxon. "I need you to go to my house and get my kit." Hastily, he bolted to a desk in the corner of the room and fished out a pen and paper, before quickly scrawling an odd symbol on to the paper. Holding it up to Jaxon, he yanked the key from his pocket and handed them both to the larger man. "It's black and has this symbol on it. It's in the den, on my desk. Don't take too long."

"Jax, Kodi's outside, he can get you there faster."

Jaxon nodded to his weary comrade and jogged out the door.

Hope looked anxiously to the rest of the group. "I'll go with him." Without stopping for consent, he disappeared through the door way after the soldier.

"What can we do now?" Serah stepped forward, one hand gripping the necklace around her neck. A nervous habit shared by both Farron girls.

"Uh…I need towels. Clean towels, as many as you can get. I need to stop the bleeding. And a knife."

"A knife?" Vanille squeaked. The other Pulsian girl was a nervous wreck.

"I need to cut her out of her shirt." Elias spoke almost absently, his mind going through long-forgotten practices, trying to decide on which method would work best to save the huntress.

"We'll get the towels. Come on." Snow looked over to Sazh and Godot, who nodded in agreement before exiting the room.

Lightning stepped forward and held her survival knife out to the Elias, hating how her hand shook.

Nodding a quick thanks, the medic flipped it out and began to carefully cut at the Pulsian woman's shirt. Stepping forward, Serah helped hold the shirt so that the process could be completed faster.

When the shirt was finally disposed of, Lightning let out a shaky, pained breath, her eyes suddenly burning as she saw the source of Fang's bleeding.

Stretching at least eight inches from the middle of her abdomen beneath her ribcage down to her left hip was a deep, lightning bolt-shaped gash. The skin on her abdomen was riddled with several other cuts and bruises, and was so smeared with blood that it no longer appeared to be its normal light tan, but instead a deep crimson. The dark bruise she had received earlier was the only contrast, dark against the vibrant red.

Serah drew a shaky breath, fighting back tears as she looked down at her friend. "Can't we just use a synthesis manadrive to undo the curse?"

Elias sighed running a hand through his messy hair. "Unfortunately, no. These types of curses are far too complicated for any manadrive to handle."

"S-so how do we help her?" Vanille tried to wipe the tears out of her eyes with the back of her forearm, only to have more roll down her cheek seconds later.

"This particular curse has something like a time limit on it. If I'm right, and I pray to the gods that I am, it should be gone within twenty-four hours of it being cast on her. Once it's gone, I can use a manadrive to fix her up. Until then, we'll have to do it the old fashioned way."

Lightning swallowed. "Which is?"

Elias remained silent.

"We got the towels." The three men returned with armloads of towels, respectfully diverting their eyes away from Fang.

"Good. Bring them over here." As soon as they set them down and stepped back, Elias began taking the towels and laying them over the wound. "Now we just have to hope these hold until they get back with my-"

"We're here!"

Hope and Jaxon bolted through the door, both out of breath. A collective sigh of relief was emitted from everyone in the room.

"We went as fast as we could." Hope panted as he pulled the large bag off of his shoulder and handed it to Elias.

"Thank the gods." Elias set the bag and quickly began to rummage through it, pulling out a menagerie of objects. "Okay…Okay, I need everyone to clear the room. Wait. Wait, I need Jaxon, Snow, and Caleb. You guys stay here, I'll need your help with something."

"What?! Why?! No, I'm- _We're_ not going anywhere. Not until we know that Fang will be okay."

"Farron…Lightning, I need you to trust me on this one."

Lightning stood her ground, ready to put up a fight to stay beside Fang, until Serah laid a hand on her arm and Vanille laid one on her shoulder.

"Light…" Vanille began, tears still heavy in her eyes.

"Lightning…Claire, it's okay. We need to let him do his job so he can save Fang." Serah gave her sister's arm a gentle squeeze of reassurance, dropping her other hand to grab Lightning's.

Lightning opened her mouth to argue but instead closed it, clenched her free fist, and dropped her head in defeat. Clutching her little sister's hand, she allowed Serah to guide her towards the door. Vanille was close behind followed by Sazh and Hope.

Before they made it out, Snow stopped them. "Light…I'll take care of her. I'll make sure she's okay. I promise."

Lightning starred at him with an unreadable expression, before diverting her gave to the ground. "Thank you, Snow."

And with, that the five left the room.


	7. Chapter 6

**Here you are folks, Chapter 6!**

**Enjoy and let me know what you think.**

* * *

><p>"So what do you need us for?"<p>

Elias ran a hand through his hair, blowing out a breath as he looked up at the other man.

"Look, I'm not going to lie to you. I didn't want to say it while the others were in the room, but the only way I'm going to be able to save Yun is by resorting to the old medicinal practices. Practices that haven't been used for quite some time."

Caleb, finally regaining some composure, let out a somewhat agitated sigh.

"We already established that, Eli. Get to the point."

"The point is that this isn't going to be easy." Picking up a bottle, Elias turned it so showed they could see the label. "This is hydrogen peroxide. I've done extensive research on this substance and I found out that it does wonders for cleaning injuries. Unfortunately, this stuff burns like hell when it comes in contact with open wounds, so it's gonna be fairly painful for her. She'll undoubtedly return to, at the least, half-way conscious. And she's not gonna be happy."

Jaxon spoke up, his brow drawing together in grim understanding. "That's what you need us for. You'll need us to hold her down while you clean it."

Caleb growled and folded his arms, agitatedly pace a short distance. "Great. That's just great. As if she hasn't been through enough, she's going to have her friends force her down while we scrape out her wounds with some ancient chemical. That's just _awesome._"

"Actually, I just need Snow and Jaxon to hold her down. I need you to do something else Caleb."

Caleb's eyes snapped to his friend. "What, you want me to pour some salt in her wounds while we're at it? Or perhaps some vinegar?" He didn't mean to be so cross with Elias, but he just needed an outlet and with how things were going, his fuse was running short.

Elias gave another sigh, knowing his friend didn't mean it. "Look, back when hospitals and emergency rooms we're still around, it wasn't uncommon for the family of the injured to attempt to rush into surgery to try and help their loved ones. Most of the time they had no idea what they were doing, and could even end up hurting the person they were trying to protect even more than they already were. It's human instinct to want to take care of the people we love."

Snow drew in a breath, suddenly understanding. "Lightning."

Elias grimaced slightly. "Precisely. I don't think Ms. Dia will do anything, but Farron's the type to run off instinct. We already saw that she cares about Yun through how reluctant she was to leave her side."

Caleb scowled and shook his head. "So what do you want me to do?"

"I'll need you to guard the room. Just make sure no one gets in so that I can do my job."

Dropping his head in defeat, Caleb began to slowly limp towards the door.

"If she kills me for this Eli, I swear to the gods I'll come back to haunt you."

He heard Caleb give a grunt of acknowledgement as he exited the room.

Stepping into the light of the main room, Caleb noticed that the whole bar was cleared out save for the NORA crew, Sazh, Dajh, Serah, Vanille, and Lightning.

Lightning was on her feet as soon as she caught sight of him, Serah and Lebreau following suit. "What happened? Is she okay?"

Caleb raised his hands in a calming gesture. "She's fine." _For now._ "Elias just, uh, sent me out here to check on you guys."

A look of irritation rose to Lightning's face before half-way disappearing as Serah grabbed her hand and gave her a pleading look. "We're…we're fine. Though, I'm not sure how '_checking on us_' is helping Fang any."

Serah gave a quite growl at of her sister's name in an attempt to keep her from stirring up a fight.

Brushing off the comment, Caleb ran his calloused hands over his face in an attempt to shake off the fatigue that suddenly weigh on him. "Look, Elias is going to have to clean out her wound in order to prevent an infection. He said she might-"

Suddenly, sharp cries of agony pierced the air from out of the back room. Elias' bellowing voice followed soon after, as well the sound of several heavy objects clattering to the floor.

"_God dammit, hold her down! HOLD. HER. DOWN!_"

Lightning's eyes went wide, her body stiffening at the sound. Then she bolted forward, attempting to bulldoze her way straight through Caleb in an attempt to get to Fang. Caleb caught her and pulled her smaller frame tightly against him, locking his arms tightly around her back. The sudden jolt caused his to grimace as the pain in his injuries flared back up.

"LET GO OF ME! God dammit, let go!"

Trying to hold Lightning still was like trying to hold a cat in a tub of water. Caleb grit his teeth as he fought to maintain his hold on the soldier. Luckily, his years as a soldier gave him the strength told hold on to her. _Barely_.

"Dammit, Farron stop! You could hurt her more than you could help!"

"Like hell! Get out of my way!"

"Claire, stop! He's right! None of us know how to help her right now, we've just got to trust that Elias can take care of her!"

The younger Farron's voice caused Lightning to freeze briefly, panting at the exertion of fighting against the larger soldier. Letting out a vicious growl, she pushed off and away from Caleb, successfully freeing herself from his grip.

"Get off of me."

Retreating back of few paces, the female soldier began to glare and pace like a caged animal, fighting tears and the violent trembling the shook her lithe frame.

It wasn't until her little sister pulled her into a hug that she stopped, releasing a broken growl. Clutching the blouse that covered the younger Farron's back, Lightning's body finally slumped in defeat.

-x-x-x-

Several hours had past and the back room remained quiet.

Lifting his head from his hands, Caleb glanced at the clock for the eighth time in one hour.

1:43 AM

Sighing, the GCAB soldier stood, stretching his stiff legs. Vanille had been so kind as to heal him with her personal manadrive earlier. Looking at the young Pulsian girl, he saw that she had finally fallen asleep, laying on her side with her head resting on Sazh's lap. She had been hysterical during Lightning's outburst, and had continued to cry quietly for hours thereafter. Worry had worn her down and exhaustion had finally taken its toll. Poor thing needed the sleep anyway.

The other members of the tensely silent room were awake, but seemed to be staring off into space, exhaustion wearing on them all as well. The only one he couldn't tell if they were still awake or not was Lightning. The other soldier was laying on her sister's lap turned in towards the rear of the booth, her hand still clutching a handful of Serah's shirt for comfort he supposed. The only movement that came from her was the steady rising and falling of her breathing.

Serah sat starring at the floor, one hand idly stroking her sister's hair in a soothing manner. It seemed to have worked as Lightning was much calmer then she had been hours ago.

Sazh was reclined back against the other booth, hand resting on Vanille's upper arm, eyes searching the ceiling. He hadn't said much during the night. He had asked Yuj and Maqui to take Dajh home hours ago. The two were going to spend the night at his place to watch the young boy while Sazh waited to make sure Fang was alright.

Sazh had originally intended for Hope to go with the other two boys so that he could get some rest as well, but the young former l'cie had fiercely refused, stating that Fang was family, and there was no way in hell he was going anywhere until he knew she was going to be okay. So instead, he made a brief call to his father to let him know where he was and stayed put with the rest of them. He was currently sitting on the floor, leaning back against the booth seat that Vanille and Sazh occupied.

The only other occupant of the room was Lebreau, who had up until an hour ago been working to finish closing the bar and preparing for the next day. This assuming that the bar opened the next day. She had already made it clear that she would keep the bar closed as long as need be. Currently she sat at the bar, head resting on her hand as she absently picked at a loose thread on her shirt.

Caleb admired the small group's dedication to each other. They were a truly a family, especially the six former l'cie. It almost made him envious. It had just been him and Kodi since he was sixteen. Sometimes he wondered what it would be like to have someone who always had your back, regardless of the situation. Someone more than just a friend, of course. Fang was his best friend, but he knew he didn't have quite the same bond with her that these people had. Then again when you are in the kind of situation they were in together, risking their lives for each other and saving the world, it was completely understandable that they were all so close.

Footsteps echoed from down the hall leading from the back room causing all the conscious occupants to look up.

"Dammit Snow, we told you to tell us when you got dizzy so we could pull out." Jaxon grumbled in a hushed tone, helping the other man stay up right.

Snow offered a somewhat bitter smile. "She needed blood. I'm just happy our blood types matched."

"Snow?" Serah whispered to her husband, obviously concerned but didn't move to stand up. Her sister didn't stir. She must be asleep. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Snow slowly lowered himself to sit beside Serah. "Fang just needed some blood, that's all. Eli used a device to test her blood and as it turns out, she's AB negative, just like me. So I gave her a bit of mine." Snow smiled appreciatively as Lebreau brought him a glass of juice from the bottle she kept in the fridge behind the bar.

"Thank you, Snow."

Turning, the two saw that Vanille had awoken and was looking at Snow tearfully, a small grateful smile on her face.

"Hey, no problem. We're family, right?"

Vanille's smile grew a bit as she nodded. "Right."

Hope stood up to approach Jaxon. "How is she?"

Rubbing the back of his head, Jaxon shrugged slightly. "From what I could tell, she's gonna be okay. But I'm no doctor, so you'll have to ask Elias. He's finishing up now.

As if on cue, a third set of footsteps made its approach from down the hallway. Entering the room with an exhausted sigh, Elias was greeted by seven anxious pairs of eyes staring at him.

Snow turned to Serah and mumbled quietly to her. "Should we wake her?"

Serah pursed her lips in thought, looking down at her older sister and pulling a stray hair from her face. After hesitating a moment, she shook her head. "We should let her sleep. Once she wakes up, she won't want to go to sleep again tonight, so let's let her rest now."

Elias spoke in a hushed voice, noticing the sleeping soldier. "I'm not going to sugarcoat it, she's still not in the all-clear yet, but I've stitched her wounds and, thanks to Snow, we've replaced a fair amount of the blood she lost. I've done all that I can do for her now. The rest is on her. I think that if she can pull through the night, she'll be fine."

"Wait, 'stitched'? Like, with needle and thread?" Lebreau looked at the doctor in tired confusion.

"Sort of. I used something called 'surgical suture'. It will help hold the wound together so her body can heal naturally. When the curse is gone, I'll use a manadrive to speed the process up and then cut them out."

The group remained silent, nodding in understanding, but allowing his words to sink in.

"So what now?" Sazh rubbed a hand over his face, trying to keep himself awake.

Elias rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Now, we find a way to get her home. We'll have to be careful with her, we can't have her getting jolted too badly."

Sazh got to his feet, groaning slightly as his stiff knees protested the movement. "We can take my vehicle. We can fold down the seats, and lay her in the back. A few of you will probably have to ride in back with her. All we have to do is find some way to get her there without hurting her anymore."

Caleb stood and stretched his sore muscles, tilting his neck until it cracked, before stepping forward. "I can carry her."

Elias frowned. "It would be better if we could put her on a stretcher…but since I can't imagine there being any around, I suppose we don't have much of an alternative."

"What about her?" Jaxon motioned to Lightning, still asleep on Serah.

"I can carry her to our vehicle." Snow rose as well, finishing the juice and testing his balance. "Let's just hope she doesn't wake up and try to kill me."

-x-x-x-

The ride home was uneventful. Serah, Snow, and a sleeping Lightning rode in one vehicle, Sazh, Vanille, Hope, and an unconscious Fang rode in another, and Caleb rode on Kodi. Jaxon, Elias, and Lebreau all went home. Elias promised to arrive at sunrise to check Fang's condition and take care of whatever else needed to be done. In the meantime, Vanille, Serah, Snow, and (unknowingly) Lightning were all to watch over her and call him if something came up. He only lived a block down from them so if something happened, he could be there within minutes.

Caleb carried Fang into the house, being as careful as humanly possible. Gently setting the unconscious Pulsian on the bed, Caleb stepped back to let Vanille cover her with the blanket.

"Are you guys going to be okay?"

Vanille smiled tiredly up at the weary soldier. "Yeah. Us former l'cie are tough. And we stick together, you know? We're a family."

Returning her smile, Caleb merely nodded and followed her back out to the front door. Arriving just as Snow lifted Lightning from his and Serah's vehicle, Caleb stood and waited with Vanille, Hope, and Sazh.

"Are you sure you guys don't need anything?" Caleb asked Serah as they approached, shifting to the side to allow Snow to get by with Lightning.

"Yeah, we'll be fine. We'll take turns watching her through the night. When Light wakes up, we'll fill her in. I'm sure she'll probably try to take care of Fang all by herself," Serah nudged Vanille, who giggled softly, "But we'll help until then. It's funny, I haven't seen her sleep like this since we were kids. Completely gone to the world."

Sazh sighed. "You all still _are_ kids. And she's probably so emotionally exhausted, that she just kinda passed out. Poor soldier girl."

Hope stepped forward, resting a hand on Vanille's shoulder. "You guys will call us in the morning, right?"

Both girls nodded.

"Alright, kid. I'll give you a lift home." Sazh patted Hope's shoulder and turned towards his vehicle. "See you all in the morning."

Caleb sighed and turned to Kodi, who had also been healed by Vanille. "Guess we better be headed for home too. Kodi, can you say thank you to Vanille for healing you up?"

The gorgonopsid let out a friendly rumble, waggling his tail behind him.

Vanille smiled, taking the beast's face in her hands. You're very welcome, buddy."

Caleb smiled and climbed on to Kodi's back. "Goodnight ladies."

Both girls returned his smile and bid him farewell.

And then there were five. One asleep and one unconscious, but five none-the-less.

Returning inside, Vanille gave a loud yawn, rubbing her eye as she looked at the clock.

3:13 AM

Turning to her best friend, Serah smiled. "Why don't you go to bed. Snow and I will duke out who gets first watch. We'll wake you when it's your turn."

Vanille frowned but then smiled. "So really your telling me that Snow gets first watch?"

Serah's smile grew to a grin as she nodded. "Yeah pretty much."

After drawing her best friend in to a hug, Vanille turned and sleepily walked to her room, leaving Serah alone in the living room.

Setting out to search for Snow, Serah found that he wasn't in the guest room where they would be staying or in Lightning's room, but in Fang's room. And he had laid her sister down in the bed beside Fang.

Grinning as she approached, Serah placed a hand on Snow's back to announce her presence. Turning, the tall man smiled and pulled her into an embrace.

"You really think that's a good idea?" Her voice was barely above a whisper.

Snow made a soft thoughtful noise, his voice no louder than hers. "Maybe. All I know is if I was in her position and you were in Fang's, I would want to wake up beside you. It wouldn't really matter how I got there."

Serah smiled and buried her face into his chest. "You're sweet."

Snow merely shrugged. "Come on. Let's go get some sleep. I think Light's got this shift."

-x-x-x-

Fang stirred slightly, her head fuzzy with the ache in her side. Slowly and painfully she opened her viridian eyes. Trying to take in her blurry surrounds, the huntress managed to make out that she was in her room. How she got there, she had no idea. Even stranger, there was something heavy and warm on her right shoulder and lying across her chest.

Fighting through the pain that sharpened as she moved to bring her head up, Fang managed to look down enough to see that the something was actually a some_one_. A someone with pink hair.

_Well, there's a snowball's chance in hell that Serah would be using me as a moogle doll, so…_

"Light?" Her voice came out hoarse and so soft that the soldier on top of her didn't even stir.

Smiling softly to herself, Fang slowly moved her arms to wrap around Lightning's back.

_This is too painful to be a dream, but too wonderful for it not to be. Maybe I'm hallucinating. Guess it doesn't really matter either way._

Fang shifted slightly to get in a comfortable position that relieved some of the ache in her side, before pressing a soft kiss into Lightning's hair and laying her head back down.

"Goodnight…Sunshine."


	8. Chapter 7

**Sorry for the delay! Life decided it wanted to get in the way (Stupid life, you made me look bad!).**

**So this is a fairly long chapter. I guess it's kind of a Happy LR:FFXIII Release Day present.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Fang sighed as she stared into the mirror in her room, her fingers gently brushing the ragged lightning shaped tear that stretched across her abdomen. It was the last physical remnant of her little brush with death.<p>

Everything else, including her ribs, had been healed briefly after she awoken the morning after the fight with the giga-behemoth. It had been a strange, yet joyous morning, and the memory always brought a grin to her face.

She had woken to the sound of Lightning, rather ungracefully, tumbling off the bed. Apparently, her sudden proximity to the huntress had surprised her. It wasn't until Fang had spoken her name and attempted to sit up that the soldier realized that she was wake. And then the strangest thing happened. Lightning had _hugged_ her. She had seriously climbed on top of her and drawn her into an almost crushing embrace. Not that she was complaining of course. She had loved the feeling of having Lightning in her arms, it just was so different from the Light she was used to that it surprised her.

Of course the sound of Lightning landing in an ungraceful heap had drawn the other occupants of the house to her room. Serah, Vanille, and Snow had bust through the door to her bedroom to find Lightning straddling and clinging to a very dazed and confused Fang. The soldier had been so focused on the huntress that it wasn't until both Serah and Vanille broke into a chorus of "awww" that Lightning scrambled off of her. She had then folded her arms and given the girls a murderous glare, the impact of which was only lightened by the furious blush that lit up her face.

Soon after it seemed (she wasn't quite sure how long it had really been, as her mind had been so fuzzy that time seemed to have distorted making hours seem like minutes), Caleb, Elias, Sazh, and Hope entered the room. Elias had begun to examine immediately, and after announcing that the curse had dispelled itself, all of the occupants of the room had become so joyous and excited that Fang became overwhelmed and the only thing she could think to say was, "How did I get here?" and, "Why am I half naked?".

Since then, things were beginning to get back to normal. Eli came every day to heal her side wound, a little more each day, with his manadrive. He said that it would be best if they allowed it to heal over a week's time, so that her body could, partially, heal itself naturally.

There was one thing that had changed though. Every night since she had woken up, Lightning had elected to sleep beside her. In the same bed. Right next her. Fang was in heaven, though she wouldn't voice her enjoyment in case she scared Lightning off. Why did Lightning choose to go to sleep in the same bed as Fang every night? Well, at first it had been because Elias had instructed someone to do so for the first few nights of the healing process, just in case. Now, five days later, when the wound was no more severe than a decent sized cut rather than the gouge that once it was, Fang wasn't quite sure why she continued to do so. Not that she minded in the least.

So now, every night, usually while Fang was in the middle of her nightly routine (shower, brush teeth, dress in night clothes), Lightning would wordlessly enter her room already dressed for bed, and without even making eye contact, she'd pad to her side of the bed (the left side) and lay down beneath the covers, facing whichever way was opposite to where Fang was at the moment. Every night, they'd fall asleep with several feet of buffer between them. Yet, every morning, they'd wake and somehow during the night, Lightning would find her way on top of Fang's chest or Fang would roll over and lay her arm protectively across Light's waist. It was almost uncanny the way they sought out each other during the night. Then, like nothing happened, the two would rise and start their days as they usually did.

And it was _killing_ her.

There was a saying on Gran Pulse, back when Cocoon still floated in the sky. It went, "the worst way to miss someone is to have them sitting right beside you, and knowing you could never have them." The first time she had heard it she had thought it to be sappy and irrelevant, but given the situation she was in she couldn't help but find it painfully fitting. Here she had the only person that she had ever wanted laying right beside her every night, and she was too damn big of a pansy to do anything about it. It would be easy really. All she would have to do is roll over and push her into the sheets, kiss her until she could breathe, and pray that the soldier didn't deck her. Easy in theory. Not so much in reality.

Stepping back from the mirror, Fang turned to her messy bed to retrieve the neatly folded shirt lying atop it. Wincing slightly as she went to pull it over her head, a soft knock at the door made her halt briefly.

"Huh? Uh, come in!" Fang called as she hastily struggled to get the shirt down her body despite it being a regular loose fitting tank top.

Suddenly, a pair of soft hands helped drag the shirt down her body, eliciting a barely noticeable shiver from her. Adjusting her shirt slightly, she grinned down at her assistant, whose brilliant blue eyes stared at her wearily.

"Thanks, Sunshine."

Lightning nodded in response, gently raising the Pulsian's shirt to assess the healing wound still prominent on Fang's abdomen. "Are you sure you're okay to go out tonight?"

Fang made a thoughtful noise before nodding. "I'll be alright. Feelin' a bit cooped up here anyways."

Light swallowed and nodded.

"You ready to go then?"

Fang smiled and took a step closer to the soldier. Resting her forehead against Light's, Fang placed her hand on the older Farron girl's hip, reveling in the way her breath hitched when she ran her thumb over the smooth skin beneath her shirt.

"Ready when you are."

"Goodletsgothen." Lightning practically _squeaked_, before spinning on her heel and pulling out of Fang's grasp, marching briskly out of the room.

Fang sighed and dropped her head. The double meaning had perhaps been lost on the soldier, though it seemed she was making progress. Anyone else would probably have lost an arm for trying something like that with Lightning.

Scooping up her jacket off the back of her bedroom door as she went, Fang followed after her soldier girl.

Arriving in the living room, she was greeted by Vanille and Little Farron. And of course, Lightning who stood looking somewhat anxious by the front door.

"Fang!" Serah pulled the huntress into a hug. "How are you feeling?"

Grinning down at the younger Farron girl, Fang patted her on the shoulder. "Much better. Been missing you and the big guy hanging around though."

Serah giggled. "Lightning seemed to have been taking _really_ _good_ care of you." She turned her head so that Fang couldn't see her throwing a wink towards her sister, who promptly flushed and hid her face behind her bangs. "Snow and I just thought it would be best if we headed home, and let her take care of it."

"Ah. I see." Fang rubbed the back of her neck, glancing over at Lightning affectionately.

"Well, we better get going! I bet they're all waiting for us at Lebreau's by now." Vanille smiled at her older sister.

"Alright, I'll meet you guys there. Gonna take my velocycle."

Serah picked up her keys off the coffee table and pulled on her jacket. "Got it. Light, you riding with us?"

Lightning shifted uneasily, folding her arms, before speaking softly. "I was actually going to ride Fang. Just to make sure she doesn't jolt herself too badly. She's still healing."

The two younger girls shared a mischievous look, making Fang slightly apprehensive.

Serah shrugged before nonchalantly making her way to the door, followed by Vanille who seemed to be grinning knowingly. "Ooookay, you two. See you there."

Fang tilted her head and narrowed her eyes, both confused and suspicious. "Yeah, see you there."

Watching the two leave, Fang turned to Light, who seemed to be avoiding her gaze.

"Uh, I guess let's go then."

Lightning merely nodded, her hand moving to clutch the necklace hanging around her neck.

Stepping out into the warm sunshine, Fang couldn't help but grin, running a hand through her spiky hair.

"Gods, I've missed the sunshine. Seems like it's been raining forever, yeah?"

Lightning remained quiet behind her.

Climbing on the velocycle, Fang turned to her companion before patting the space on the seat behind her. "Hop on."

Light glanced from the bike back to Fang, before stepping forward and mounting the bike.

Fang frowned as she glanced over her shoulder at Lightning. The soldier had positioned herself several inches back from Fang. "You're going to fall off if you ride like that."

Hooking her arms beneath Lightning's knees, Fang heard the soldier gasp as she pulled her forward so that she was flush with Fang. Looking back over her shoulder with a smile, Fang saw that Light seemed to be trying to compose herself, squirming ever so slightly. "That's better, yeah?"

Light merely nodded, a slight blush coloring her face a light pink.

"Hold on tight, okay?" Fang felt Lightning hesitate before circling her arms around her waist, pulling herself flush against the huntress.

"Alright, let's go."

-x-x-x-

"Did you tell her? Did you tell her?"

Vanille bounced around Lightning, who at the time was trying to pound a stiff drink.

Placing the glass back on the bar with a shaky hand, Lightning gave a curt shake of her head, causing the young Pulsian to sigh in disappointment.

Serah folded her arms and gave her sister a mildly frustrated look. "Claire, you promised you would tell her days ago. You need to just do it already."

Lightning merely shook her head, staring down into her glass.

Serah let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. "Alright. We'll let you do it your way. But I wouldn't wait too long, Claire. I don't know if Fang will wait forever."

Lightning scowled, glancing at her sister out of the corner of her eye, but remained silent.

Vanille chose to drop the subject, sensing the soldier's aggravation. She smiled brightly, turning to Serah, excitement evident in her features. "So, Elias, Caleb, and Jaxon are gonna be playing on stage tonight." She said more quietly, excitement dripping from her voice. "Caleb said they had a surprise for us."

"A surprise, huh? Sounds like it could get interesting." Serah grinned mischievously.

Just then, they turned to see Lebreau standing on the stage, fiddling with a microphone. Switching the mic on, the young bartender stepped forward to center stage and addressed the crowd.

"Good evening, everyone! So we got a real treat for you guys tonight. We got some GCAB guys taking some time out of their busy schedules to come up here and play for you guys a night early. Please give it up for Innocence and Instinct!"

The crowd came to life with applause and whistles as Caleb, Elias, and Jaxon walked onto the stage. Caleb thanked Lebreau as he accepted the microphone she held out to him, making his way to center stage. Jaxon made his way upstage to the drum set, and Elias stood stage right tuning his bass.

Caleb grinned out into the crowd, absently plucking at his electric guitar. "Hey folks, let's hear it for our lovely Lebreau and the hardworking NORA crew, yeah? We definitely wouldn't be standing up here if it weren't for them."

The crowd gave a loud cheer that lasted several minutes before quieting down.

"Alright, so as she said, we are Innocence and Instinct. I'm Celeb, I'll be on vocals and electric guitar, my buddy Eli over here will be on bass, and Jaxon in the back is on drums." Then he grinned mischievously, seemingly in Light's direction. "Also! Later on tonight we've got a bit of a surprise for some of our friends, so sit tight, it's gonna be an exciting night."

"Aw, man. What are those kids up to now?" Sazh sighed, coming up behind the girls alongside Hope and Snow as the band began to play their first song.

"I don't know but it sounds exciting!" Vanille could hardly keep her excitement contained.

The small group chuckled at the young redhead's excitement, before taking up seats next to each other, enjoying the music and alongside conversations. Before they knew it, almost two hours had passed.

It wasn't until Lebreau came up to them, balancing _six_ glasses on a tray, that they realized there was one member of their family missing.

"Hey, Lebreau, have you seen Fang?" Hope rubbed the back of his neck, looking around the bar.

Lebreau froze, remaining silent, a small mysterious smile evident in her features. Lightning narrowed her eyes, ready to begin interrogating the young bartender, until the song being performed on stage ended, and Caleb began to speak into the microphone.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, are you ready for our little surprise?"

The crowd's thunderous applause mixed with cheers and whistles was loud enough to shake the whole building.

"Alright, alright, settle down now."

Turning in their seats, the group of former l'cie looked curiously (and a bit anxiously) to the GCAB officer on the stage.

"Alright now, I want you all to give it up for a very dear friend of mine. She's a bit nervous, so let's give her a warm welcome, yeah?"

Snow started to laugh, a huge grin spreading across his face. "No way."

The small group turned back towards him, confusion in their expressions.

Caleb caught the NORA leader's grin from up on stage and returned it with one of his own. "Ladies and gentlemen, to help us with our final song of the night, Oerba Yun Fang!"

All of the former l'cie's jaws dropped except for Snow and Vanille's. Snow just got to his feet and cheered loudly, and Vanille got up and started jumping around.

"Oh my Gods, she's gonna sing again!"

"Again?" Lightning looked at the young Pulsian incredulously, a slight blush rising in her cheeks. _Fang could sing?_

Vanille's excitement was at a boiling point by now. "Well, yeah! She used to sing all the time back in Oerba." Her excitement dropped a bit, and she hesitated. "She's just, uh…a bit self-conscious about it. So don't make fun of her, okay?"

The other five former l'cie, too stunned to respond, turned their attentions back to the stage just as Fang, somewhat shyly, walked out on to the stage. The dark haired Pulsian had her hair pulled back into a messy ponytail, her spiky bangs hanging slightly in her eyes. The casual grey button up she wore was unbuttoned all the way, exposing the white tank top beneath. She had rips in the knees of her jeans, and an ancient looking black acoustic guitar strung around her torso. Lightning swallowed, fighting to maintain her composure, thankful that she was facing away from her family.

Making her way to stand next to Caleb, her expression turned from one of shy nervousness to one of amused irritation at the sight of his smug grin. Growling, she gave him a good thwack to the stomach, which only caused him to chuckle harder, despite doubling over in pain.

"How did I let you talk me into doing this again?" She mumbled low enough so that only he could hear over applause rolling from the audience.

"I told you the best way to anyone's heart is through music." Caleb beamed at her, his eyes glistening with amusement.

"Yeah, alright." Fang shook her head, running her hand over her hair. The stage lights were bright enough that she couldn't really see out into the crowd, save for a few seats close to the stage, but she could still feel her. She could feel Light's eyes on her. It tied her stomach into knots.

"So, last song of the night, what do you wanna play?"

Fang shifted nervously. "I don't know. I'm not too great with anything that isn't acoustic."

Caleb's smile softened. "Don't you worry about that. We'll take care of the electric stuff. How about we play that song we we're rehearsing earlier?"

Fang swallowed anxiously and nodded.

Caleb walked over to a piano stuffed in the corner of the stage. Placing his fingers on the keys, he nodded to Jaxon and Elias to signal that he was ready to start.

The notes from the piano played out a dark, eerily beautiful tune.

Shifting the old black guitar so that it hung off her back, Fang nervously stepped forward and took hold of the mic off its stand. Waiting for her count, she began to sing.

_How can you see into my eyes like open doors?_

_Leading you down into my core where I've become so numb_

The group sat dumbfounded. Fang's voice was gorgeous, and her accent only made her singing that much better.

Caleb grinned out into the crowd where he knew his friends were as he backed away from the piano. Picking up the lead guitar's entrance, he made his way to stand next to Fang.

Lightning couldn't take her eyes off her. She never would have imagined that Fang could sing as gorgeously as she did. And her accent. Oh Gods, she could feel her temperature rising. She was just so _sexy_.

_Without a soul my spirit's sleeping somewhere cold_

_Until you find it there and lead it back home_

Serah's voice trembled in shock. "O-oh my gods! Her voice, it's so-"

"Sexy."

The group turned to see a young woman, a _very _beautiful woman, with platinum blond hair and vibrant blue eyes. She seemingly appeared out of thin air, and stood staring up at the stage, eyes locked on Fang, an almost predatory look on her face.

Stepping up the microphone, Caleb gave Fang a reassuring smile before joining her in the chorus.

_ (Wake me up)_

_ Wake me up inside_

_ (I can't wake up)_

_ Wake me up inside_

_ (Save me!)_

_ Call my name and save me from the dark_

_ (Wake me up)_

_ Bid my blood to run_

_ (I can't wake up)_

_ Before I come undone_

_ (Save me!)_

_ Save me from the nothing I've become_

_Now that I know what I'm without_

_ You can't just leave me_

_ Breathe into me and make me real_

_ Bring me to life_

Turning to Vanille, the platinum blonde woman smiled haughtily. "So, you're her sister, right?"

Vanille shifted uncomfortably. "Um, yeah. We grew up in an orphanage together back in Oerba. She was always looking out for me. We may not be blood, but she is my sister."

The woman said nothing at first, only glancing at Lightning out of the corner of her eye, obviously sizing her up. Light resisted the urge to stand up and growl at the woman, though the scowl on her face made her discontent obvious.

"So is she seeing anyone?"

Vanille glanced at Lightning out of the corner of her eye. "N-not exactly-"

_(Wake me up)_

_ Wake me up inside_

_ (I can't wake up)_

_ Wake me up inside_

_ (Save me)_

_ Call my name and save me from the dark_

_ (Wake me up)_

_ Bid my blood to run_

_ (I can't wake up)_

_ Before I come undone_

_ (Save me)_

_ Save me from the nothing I've become_

_Bring me to life_

The woman's smug grin only widened. "Good-"

"B-but she's really sort of a demi sexual!" Vanille spoke quickly, laughing a bit nervously. This woman was making them all uncomfortable.

The blonde woman raised an elegant eyebrow.

_ (I've been living a lie, there's nothing inside)_

_ Bring me to life_

"It means she can only have a relationship with someone she already has strong emotional feelings for."

The blonde seemed to think for a few seconds. Then the haughty grin returned. "Guess I better get started then."

Lightning released a low growl as she watch the woman sashay back into the crowd. She considered following her and telling her to back off, but when her brain finally registered the lyrics Fang was singing, she turned her head back to the stage. Her eyes locked with the huntress's, her breath hitching as she realized Fang was staring straight at her as she sang.

_ Frozen inside without your touch_

_ Without your love, darling_

_ Only you are the life among the dead_

"Claire!" Serah's voice was low and agitated, snapping her out of her daze. "You need to do something before that bimbo tries anything with Fang."

_All this time I can't believe I couldn't see_

_ Kept in the dark but you were there in front of me_

_ I've been sleeping a thousand years it seems_

_ Got to open my eyes to everything_

_ Without a thought, without a voice, without a soul_

_ Don't let me die here_

Lightning shivered, her eyes flickering back to Fang, her mind jumping back to when the two Pulsian's had turned themselves to crystal to save Cocoon. Her mouth went dry and her eyes burned slightly at the thought of losing Fang again.

_ There must be something more!_

_ Bring me to life_

"I-I'm working on it, okay?" Light quietly growled. As much as she was trying to keep her composure, she could feel it slipping. Her fingers had begun to shake again and she could feel her cheeks growing hot.

_ (Wake me up)_

_ Wake me up inside_

_ (I can't wake up)_

_ Wake me up inside_

_ (Save me)_

_ Call my name and save me from the dark_

_ (Wake me up)_

_ Bid my blood to run_

_ (I can't wake up)_

_ Before I come undone_

_ (Save me)_

_ Save me from the nothing I've become_

"Go, the songs almost over." Serah gently pushed Lightning forward. Holding her breath, Light started towards the stage.

_ (Bring me to life)_

_ I've been living a lie, there's nothing inside!_

_ (Bring me to life)_

If the crowd had been thunderous before, it was positively booming now. The vast majority had gotten to their feet, and were giving the band a standing ovation. Some were even shouting "encore!".

"Yeah!" Caleb cheered. "That was awesome! See I told you they'd love you."

Fang just grinned and shook her head, taking a sip from her water bottle.

"Alright folk, that's all we've got for tonight. Don't forget, we play on the weekends up here, and hell maybe this next coming weekend we can get Fang back up here, yeah?" He elbowed his friend in the ribs, waggling his eyebrow, grinning mischievously.

The crowd responded with another enthusiastic cheer.

Hopping off the front of the stage, Fang began making her way through the crowd towards her friends, receiving compliments from quite a few people as she went. She just hoped her friends wouldn't be laughing at her performance when she made her way to them.

Suddenly, someone caught her hand and pulled her to the side of the bar. Fang almost thought it was Lightning, as she only saw a flash of vibrant blue eyes, but upon further inspection she noticed the woman had platinum blonde hair, not the soft pink she loved.

"Uh…?"

The woman pressed herself flush against Fang, her hands resting on top of Fang's abdomen. Fang frowned and fought the urge to wince as they brushed her wound.

"Hey, I-I just wanted to say I really loved your singing tonight." The woman's voice seemed to have an odd sort of bashfulness to it, though her body language told a different story. "I-I was wondering if you wanted to grab a drink with me. I think you're really sexy."

Fang rubbed the back of her neck uncomfortably. "I, uh, I'm kind of seeing someone." It wasn't entirely a lie, she had been planning on trying to ask Light out tonight…

The woman batted her eyes in disappointment, but pressed on. "Oh? That's not what your sister said."

" 'Nille? You talked to Vanille?"

"Mmhmm." The woman brought her hand up to Fang's face. "It's really a sweet story, you looking after her and all. So sweet and brave of you."

Fang was terribly confused. Who was this woman?

Bringing her face close to Fang's, the woman suddenly closed the distance, her lips finding Fang's. Tensing, Fang brought her hands up to push the woman back.

_Wha-? What was-? Lightning!_

Shoving the woman back a bit, Fang starred at her incredulously, until a soft shade pink out of the corner of her eye caught her attention.

Turning her head, Fang saw Lightning standing a few feet away from her, a look on her face she had never seen the soldier wear before. She literally looked as if she were about to cry.

"Light-"

As if the sound of her name snapped her out of her moment of vulnerability, Fang watched the soldier quickly throw up her walls, her face returning to an expression of cold indifference.

_No…Please no, Light. Not with me._

Fang took a step towards the soldier, but before she could get any closer, Lightning spun on her heel and took off through the crowd.

"Lightning!" Fang went to rush after her, but the blonde woman caught her by the arm again.

"Hey, just forget about her, she's just jealous."

Fang was so enraged she could barely speak straight. "What- You-" The huntress's voice turned deadly. "_You best stay the hell away from me and my girlfriend. I suggest you get out of my sight. Now._"

The woman narrowed her eyes, obviously intimated by the irate Pulsian woman. Shoving herself away from Fang, the woman disappeared into the crowd.

"Good riddance."

She wasn't really sure what possessed her to call Lightning her girlfriend. She hadn't even been sure that Lightning would have said yes. None the less, she liked the sound of it.

Unfortunately, now her shot at making it a reality had been critically blindsided. Turning back towards the crowd, Fang pushed her way through, desperately trying to see even a tiny glimpse of pink. She _had_ to find her.

-x-x-x-

Lightning burst through the door to the bar, stumbling almost blindly towards the velocycle. She had practically bulldozed through several people on her way out, but she didn't really care.

_This is what happens. This is what fucking happens when you let people in. Never again._

Ripping open the top of the bike, Lightning quickly began to search through the wiring. Finding the two that she needed, she flipped out her knife, stripped off the insulation, and began clicking them together. The engine stuttered slightly before roaring to life.

Stuffing the wiring back into the bike, she hastily replaced the cover and climbed on. The soldier let a growl tear from her throat as she used the back of her hand to wipe away the moisture threatening to blur her vision.

_No. Lightning Farron does __**not**__ cry._

Lightning choked back a sob before twisting the throttle, causing the bike to lurch forwards, away from the bar, away from _her_.

_But Claire might._

* * *

><p><strong>Um, so I kinda, sorta have a headconnon where Fang can sing and play acoustic guitar. Um, yeah. Hopefully that doesn't bother anyone. Let me know what you think! (The song is "Bring Me To Life by Evanescence)<strong>

**P.S. I have no idea how to hotwire anything.**


	9. Chapter 8

_***Leaves this and hides under a rock***_

* * *

><p>Fang vaulted out of the bar, glancing around frantically. A blue velocycle with a pink haired rider shot past her nearly running an unsuspecting group of people down.<p>

"Shit! Light- ah, gods damn it."

Fang's shoulders slumped with a frustrated sigh. Growling, she quickly looked around for her velocycle, yanking out her key, before realizing that Lightning had just taken off on it.

_She must have wired it. That's gonna be an expensive fix._

Shaking her head clear of the thought, she quickly began to search for another method of transportation. She had a much more urgent issue right now than the maintenance of her bike.

Cursing under her breath again, Fang noted the dire lack of usable vehicles around her, until a low rumble behind her sounded. Spinning on her heel, her face broke out in a grin.

"Kodi, I need a lift, you up for a run?"

The beast rumbled again, an excited gleam in his eyes.

-x-x-x-

"Light? Lightning!"

Lightning steeled herself as she heard the door slam, and the new arrival stumble in to the house, clearly out of breath.

Fang tumbled into the dining room where the older Farron sat with work files spread before her. Her eyes lit up as she found the pink-haired girl; perhaps she still had a chance.

"Light! Hey, look, what you saw at the bar with that girl, it wasn't- I mean-It wasn't what it—"

Lightning turned her face to the stuttering Oerban, her eyes cold and indifferent.

"I don't particularly care who you screw Fang."

Fang blinked in confusion. "Huh? But…I mean…I thought…"

Lightning stood up squaring herself to Fang. "Look, I had just been coming over to ask you if I could have the keys to your velocycle so I could come home and get some paper work done, but you looked a bit _occupied_ so I left."

Fang frowned, shaking her head. "No…No, Sunshine, it wasn't like that—"

"It's Lightning. And do you need something? I have work to do. I bet if you go back to the bar, your _fangirl_ will still be there, she seemed to be _dying_ for your attention." The soldier's voice came out as a growl. All trace of the affection the shorter woman held for the Oerban was gone. Nothing but the same cold harshness Lightning usually used with new recruits or people she wasn't particularly fond of. Fang suddenly felt sick.

"Light…"

"Look, I don't have time for this Fang. Do you need something or not?"

Fang opened her mouth to say something but immediately shut it again, her shoulders slumping in defeat. Everything she had wanted to say died on her tongue. She wanted to argue. She wanted to tell her how she felt. But it wouldn't matter any way. Deep inside, she knew it wasn't her fault; she hadn't been the one to force herself on that wretched blonde woman. But all she could see was what she presumed was hatred when she looked in the soldier's eyes. Nothing she could say right now would make the soldier believe her. She had lost her trust.

She had lost her.

Maybe, if she was lucky, if she backed away now, they could still be friends.

_I took two steps forward and a million back, didn't I, my love?_

"No. No, sorry I bothered you."

Lightning shifted slightly, her eyes still hard.

Fang dropped her gaze, gritting her teeth; the pain in her chest was far worse than the pain in her stomach wound had ever been.

"I'm- I'm just gonna leave now."

Turning away from the painful stare, she pushed herself towards the door, dazedly grabbing her lance as she went.

Lightning stared into the silence for a few moments before finally losing her carefully controlled composure as soon as she heard the door click. Biting back sobs nearly as hard as she had been biting her tongue, the officer let her shoulders slump. She hadn't expected watching Fang walk away to hurt so badly.

As much as she tried to convince herself that she had done the right thing, that it would hurt less now, that she didn't care about Fang that way anymore, a small voice in her head nagged like a broken record. _"__Damn it, Claire, there you go again, chasing everyone who might try to love you out of your life. Remember what happened last time? You became a l'cie and almost lost Serah for good."_

"Shut up." Lightning growled aloud despite no one being around to hear her. Regardless, the nagging voice responded.

_"__You keep this up, and you're going to end up alone."_

Lightning collapsed, choking back sobs. Her fist collided with the floor with a resounding thud.

-x-x-x-

Caleb frowned when he looked outside the bar and found Kodi missing. He had witnessed what had happened after he and Fang had gotten off stage and he was worried.

Quickly turning from the window, he made his way over to where his friends sat chatting amongst themselves and immediately sought out Vanille and Serah.

"Hey guys, where did Fang and Farron go?"

The two girls glanced at each other out of the corner of their eyes and giggled.

Serah shrugged. "Ohh I don't know. Hopefully to go release some tension."

The corner of Caleb's mouth rose at the implication, but then was pulled back into a frown.

"Well here's the thing. I saw the two of them a second ago. But there was this blond chick. She just kinda forced herself on Yun. Fang pushed her back, but not before Farron saw them and ran off. I saw Fang take off after her, spitting some pretty venomous words at our blonde friend, but I don't she caught up to her. Both Kodi and Fang's velocycle are missing."

Both girls stared at the soldier for a moment before standing and quickly gathering their belongings. Little Farron looked absolutely livid while the younger Oerban looked immensely worried.

Caleb raised an eyebrow as, for a teacher of young children, the younger Farron knew a slew of some rather foul words.

Noticing the slight commotion, Snow walked over to them, a concerned expression on his face.

"Hey, everything okay?" The tall man rubbed his wife back soothingly.

Serah let out a frustrated noise and shook her head, her jaw set in agitation. She looked very much like a smaller version of a very frustrated Lightning.

Vanille spoke first, the concern in her voice apparent.

"That blonde woman we saw earlier kissed Fang, and Light saw."

A somewhat amused smile appeared on Snow's face for about a split second until he saw the scowl on Serah's face.

Caleb shifted where he stood slightly, mildly confused.

"Fang went after her, can't she just explain that she didn't want any part of it, and things will be fine?"

There was a scoff from the younger Farron, accompanied by a roll of her eyes.

"If only it was that easy with my sister. Snow, remember when we were talking about getting a dog, and she overheard me saying something about the babies being the cutest and she immediately jumped to the conclusion that we were trying to have a child and knocked you out?"

Snow nodded as he rubbed the side of his head, obviously in remembrance of that particular injury. Serah sighed, shaking her head.

"Well this is going to be kinda like that. As intelligent as she is, she can be really dense sometimes. Right now, she's probably angry and hurting because she jumped to a false conclusion, and that false conclusion is telling her she can't trust Fang because she let her in and now she thinks she betrayed her."

Vanille huffed, shaking her head sadly. "But she didn't! Caleb, you saw it, Fang pushed that dumb lady away!"

Serah merely sighed again.

Vanille's frown deepened. "And Fang's just gonna let her go because she'd rather live with never getting the chance to prove how much she loves her, than to lose her all together."

"So what do we do now?" Snow looked down at his wife, an equally deep frown on his face.

Serah straightened her jacket. "I'm gonna go talk to my sister, maybe I can talk some sense in to her annoyingly stubborn thick skull."

"Alright, I'll drive." Snow nodded and walked back to the group to bid them farewell and retrieve his keys.

Vanille looked up at Caleb, made a thoughtful noise and then offered a small smile.

"Why don't we go find Fang and talk to her. Maybe if we double team her we can get her to come around."

Caleb returned her smile and nodded.

After finally gathering their belongings, the four headed outside only to be greeted by an oversized gorgonopsid. Caleb was the first to greet him.

"Hey bud, where is—hey, what do you have in your mouth?"

The gorgonopsid waged his tail happily as Caleb carefully retrieved the piece of paper from his mouth.

Unrolling the partially slobber saturated parchment (the top five inches were purposely void of writing for that reason), Caleb frowned. The script was Gran Pulsian and while Fang had taught him how to read and write in it, he still struggled with a couple of the letters. Vanille helped translate as he read it aloud.

_Caleb,_

_Going out hunting for a few days. Just need some space. Tell Vanille I love her and I'll be careful. No giga-behemoths, I promise. I already checked out with Reyes, he said you'll be partnered with Jaxon while I am out. Don't worry about me and please don't come looking._

_Fang_

"Great. Well that just put a big strike on our to-do list." Caleb handed the note to Vanille.

A collective sigh sounded from the small group.

"I guess that means we're all going to talk to Light then."

-x-x-x-

The four arrived at the house via Snow and Serah's vehicle, and were about to enter when the younger Farron stopped them.

"Wait…just, maybe I should go talk to her first. It'll make it worse if we all start in on her at once, and that'll either make her shut us out entirely or piss her off and that'll get ugly."

The remaining three nodded in agreement and took a seat on the front porch.

Slowly making her way through the house, Serah finally pinpointed her sister's location to her room. Knocking softly, she counted to ten before entering, half expecting a fight waiting on the other side. Instead, what she saw made her heart ache.

Lightning sat on the floor, leaning against the bed. Her face was buried in her knees which were pulled tightly to her chest. When Serah took a step towards her, the soldier lifted her head, her bright eyes brimming with tears. She spoke in a voice barely louder than a whisper.

"I fucked up."

Serah quickly closed the distance between herself and her sister and pulled her into her arms. Her older sister immediately clung to her, burying her face into her shoulder.

"It's gonna be okay."

"I-"

"I know."

"And that woman-"

"Fang didn't even know her."

"And she just-"

"Yep."

"And Fang?"

"Shoved her away."

"You're sure?"

"Caleb saw the whole thing."

"And after I left?"

"Fang yelled at the woman. Caleb said she called you her girlfriend and told her to leave you both the hell alone."

Lightning swallowed hard.

"Why did she-"

"Because she's in love with you, you dolt."

Lightning winced this time.

"I'm in love her too Serah."

"I know Claire."

"Where is she?"

Unfolding the note from her pocket, she handed it to Lightning. Serah had asked Vanille to leave translation notes on it so they could read it easier.

Lightning sighed as she finished the note, running a hand through her spikey bangs, careful to avoid the look Serah was giving her, which questioned the cause of the abrupt departure of the Pulsian woman.

"I—I was angry."

"Obviously."

"I think—I think I made her think that I hate her."

"Oh Claire."

"I fucked up."

"I know."

"How am I going to fix this?"

Serah took the note from her sister.

"It says she's going to be back in a few days. I say wait and then talk to her when she comes back. I think you both need some time to gather your thoughts."

"And if, when she comes back-"

Lightning's voice cracked.

Serah grimaced slightly. "If I know Fang like I think I know Fang, she'll still be in love with you."

Both girls remained quiet for a few long moments.

"I'm scared."

"I know. It's going to be okay."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Okay, so I am really super freaking sorry that I haven't worked on this story in so long. I'd really like to thank all the kind people who have followed, favorited, and reviewed this story. I've started working on it again, and am working on it with every spare moment that I have (which is rather difficult due to work and finals). I had originally intended to end this story with this chapter, but due to how long it has been since I have updated, I thought I might extend it and explore new friendships and also explore new areas of the FFXIII world. So thanks again for everything and bare with me, I'm trying! Due tell me what you think!<strong>_


	10. Chapter 9

**_Enjoy!_**

Fang stared out across the Steppe from her perch atop a cliff wall. She usually enjoyed the solitude the vast openness offered her; it allowed her to clear her mind and sort out her thoughts. Often when she remained in the wilderness for extended periods of time she found herself reminiscing about simpler times back when she and Vanille lived in the orphanage, back when Oerba was home, back before they became l'cie.

Right now, she just felt confused and hurt, and the memory of her last encounter with Lightning hung in her mind like an ominous fog. She kept seeing flashes of the fire the soldier had in her eyes, kept hearing the hatred and venom in her voice.

Releasing a sigh, Fang stood and brushed off her clothes. She was hoping a trip out to still-desolate Oerba would help put her mind at ease. She planned to set out from her small encampment on the Northern Highplain at sunrise, only a few hours away, and reach the Sulyya Springs by midday. She had adored spending time out at the lake when she was young, and though a lot had changed through the passing of many centuries, she still felt the same peace she had felt back then walking along the softly flowing water.

The small shelter she had built atop the cliff wasn't much, but it would suffice until daybreak. She planned on building a much sturdier one when she arrived at the Springs. From where she lay beneath the shelter though, she had a tremendous view of the giant crystal pillar upon which rested the remnants of Cocoon. The crystal structure seemed to glow in the moonlight, making it sparkle and glisten in the otherwise dark night. Fang couldn't help but frown as she stared at the once-floating haven in the sky. She could still remember when she had believed that the inhabitants of the not-so-distant world were nothing, but nothing but vipers in a nest suspended in the sky, waiting to strike at any moment. Now that she knew them, she knew everything she had been told all those years in the past had been lies. Sure, some of the former habitants of Cocoon were still bitter towards her; they felt it was entirely her fault that their paradise had fallen. For the most part though, most of them were no different than Vanille or herself. The thought alone caused guilt to ride heavily on her shoulders.

Sometimes she would have nightmares. She would see herself taking the form of Ragnarok once more. She would see the bloodshed and the thousands of lives she had taken in the form of the beast. She would see all the chaos and destruction brought about by her transformation. Often she would awake from these nightmares in a panic, terrified that she would turn again and hurt those she loved. Once, she had cried out so loudly that Lightning and Vanille had come running to check on her, only to find her completely delirious, holding her lance to her own chest, begging the gods not to make her become the beast again. She could see why some still felt resentment towards her; she had been the monster they all feared. Her time as the beast destined to destroy the home of millions still haunted her, even after all these years. The scars ran deeper than just the brand remnant on her shoulder.

_I certainly do have a few screws lose, don't I? _

Fang smiled to herself bitterly at the thought.

After laying for what seemed like hours, Fang eventually gave up her endeavor to sleep, and began the process of dismantling the shelter. When she finished, she cast one last longing glance towards where the sleeping city of New Bodhum lay in darkness, and another up at Cocoon, precariously balanced upon the crystal pillar, before starting off on her journey towards her former home.

The journey across the central expanse and through the Mah'habara Subterra was rather uneventful, perhaps a bit too much for Fang's tastes. By the time she arrived at Sulyya Springs, it was still early in the day. It didn't take the huntress too long to decide on a good place to set up a suitable camp. An outcrop near the Subterranean Lake worked perfectly.

The recent bought of rain brought out an abundance of ceratosaurs and ceraraptors out of hiding in Springs, but none took much interest in the lone human wandering amongst them. When not hunting, Fang would often watch them chase each other along the water's edge. The Sulyya Springs were indeed peaceful around this time of year, even despite the large amounts of fauna that roamed the area.

When she had first been chosen to become a l'Cie by the fal'Cie, she remembered she had felt hopeful for the first time since the war began. She had truly believed that she would finally get the chance help her people, put an end to the war which millions were losing their lives to. What she hadn't expected was to be turned into a much feared, vicious monster, only capable of destruction and slaughter. And though she indeed aided in ending the war, she did so in a way that she had never wanted. The second time she became the beast, this time with Vanille by her side, she had done so in hopes that she might be redeemed from her past crimes; she sought to protect those who had once been her enemy. She had sought to protect the ones she loved so that they may rebuild what she once more was destroying. And if that meant giving her own life, she would gladly take up the burden. Her only regret would have been not telling Lightning, but she knew that though her soldier was strong, it would be unfair of her to tell her and then give up her life to save Cocoon. Again she was surprised, as it seemed Lady Luck was smiling upon them, as they had not died in the fall like she had expected, but were given another chance.

Fang shook her head of the thought. It seemed the more time she spent out all alone, the more she thought about her past. Perhaps she just needed to get up and hunt something.

Pulling her lance off her back, she began to search for tracks of any orobon in the immediate area; though ceratosaurs and ceraraptors were plentiful and easy to hunt, they had a tendency of tasting rather…freezer-burnt. That, and Fang preferred to hunt something that would offer more of a challenge. Ideally, uridimmu would offer the best of both worlds, both tasty and challenging, but since knowing Kodi, Fang found that she had lost her taste for anything in that resembled a gorgonopsid (behemoth was still tasty though).

Finally, she found what she was looking for. The telltale webbed footprints were fresh in the damp mud and led her straight to a small pack of the unsuspecting beasts. Four or five of the amphibian creatures wandered, seemingly aimlessly, along the water's edge. Crouching low among the brush, Fang waited patiently, waiting for the perfect opportunity to pounce.

Fang saw her moment and was poised to strike, when suddenly a deafening crash from across the lake startled the beasts, causing them to flare their fins, and seek refuge in the clear water.

Cursing her change of luck, Fang stood from the ferns she had been crouched in, brushing off her clothes, and shielding her eyes from the gleaming sun. Across the lake, there seemed to be several trees that had been broken down and bent from whatever had crash-landed in them.

The trek around the lake was longer than she expected, and she nearly lost her footing in the slick mud once or twice in her haste to find what ever had caused the tremendous crash. The closer she moved to the site, the more downed foliage and gouges in the earthy ground appeared. When Fang's eyes finally fell upon the culprit, she nearly fell as she jumped back to take cover.

_Maker…_

There, lying among the wreckage, was a great beast that had been feared by hunters since even before the War of Transgression. It was a vicious creature known for terrorizing villages with its elemental breath and brutal physical attacks, and could scoop up even some of the bigger of Gran Pulse's bestiary in its powerful jaws and carry them off, never to be seen again. Fang and her family of former l'Cies had faced one of these nightmares on their quest for freedom from the fal'Cie, and had only barely managed to escape with their lives, and that was with _six_ people _with _enhanced powers.

Fang held her breath from her crouched position, hoping the great zirnitra hadn't seen her. It took her several moments to realize that it hadn't appeared to have moved since she first spotted it. Releasing the breath she had been holding, she slowly began to rise and take careful steps towards the beast. She continued forward warily, that is, until the creature suddenly took a strained breath, its deep silver eye opening and focusing on the huntress, causing her to freeze where she stood.

The two stared each other down, neither moving more than the rising and falling that accompanied their breathing. Fang could feel her lance resting heavily on her back, but the fear of the beast suddenly rising up to attack made her resist the urge to draw it. After several tense moments, the beast's eyelid began to droop, before it finally let out a small rumbling noise and closed its eyes. For a few moments, Fang thought that the beast had expired, but the telltale sounds and movements of its shallow breathing said otherwise. Releasing another shaky breath, the huntress finally let her guard down enough to look the zirnitra over. It wasn't the biggest of its breed that she had ever seen, but it was certainly a large specimen. Based on its color pattern it was male, though silver was a rather uncommon eye color for its kind. Due to the small amount of spikes in its chin it was fairly young, probably about as old as she was. And it was hurt, quite badly in fact. Fang could see signs of energy rifle wounds, as well as whip marks, rope burns, and gouges across the zirnitra's body. It was clear that someone had tried to restrain it.

_Trappers._

Fang grit her teeth in frustration. Though many of the militarized creatures had been released into the wild of Gran Pulse due to general agreement to discontinue using animals as weapons, some still thought it would be acceptable to hunt down and trap the wild beasts that lived in the surrounding area, hoping to once again turn creatures into bio-organic weaponry. The methods they used to do so rarely worked and tended to leave the creatures they did manage to catch horribly injured. Often the trappers would end up having to kill the beasts because the injuries they sustained would be too severe to even consider attempting treatment. On the off chance that the creature did survive, they would be subjected to harsh and cruel treatment in order to force them into becoming obedient. Often though, the trappers would end up killing the creatures any way, as many of the creatures were too feral to adapt to becoming the weapons of humans.

What frustrated Fang the most about these people is that, as a huntress, anything and everything she hunted she did so with a purpose; when she had to kill she made sure that it was not for nothing, and left nothing to waste. These trappers would capture and maim for the hell of it, as there was not any plausible reason for them to need bio-weapons as the Guardian Corps, NORA, and GCAB all kept the city safe. In all the years that the Cocoonian people had been living on Gran Pulse, there hadn't been a single instant where the beasts had invaded their small town of New Bodhum. So there was logically no reason for them to be torturing innocent creatures. Many of these trappers had been arrested by the GC, but the carcasses of the tortured beasts would still appear in the town's outskirts, left by the trappers to rot.

Fang blew a frustrated snort through her nose. There was no sense in leaving the beast to suffer. Though the wounds were probably not deep enough to kill it, it wouldn't be able to move fast enough, if at all, to hunt or drink, and would probably die from dehydration or starvation. The least she could do would be to put it out of its misery. She could use the meat it would offer until she decided to head back to town; it would be more than enough until then. On top of that, the beast's skin was element resistant and would shield her both from the weather and attacks from any elemental beast that she may encounter. Twirling her lance from her back, she stalked towards the beast with a confident, thoroughly-practiced stride.

"Forgive me." Fang mumbled aloud almost subconsciously, poising herself to drive her blade into the zirnitra's heart. It was the quickest and most painless way.

The huntress's well-trained muscles went through the motions to strike, the movement was muscle memory from the years of fighting, but a flash of silver out of the corner of her eye caused her to hesitate.

Glancing up towards the beast's face, Fang found the creature staring at her, its eye expressing something akin to sadness, and suddenly, she found she couldn't look away. The longer she stared, the bigger the pain in her chest grew, and memories of a time long ago flashed in front of her mind's eye. Suddenly she found herself lowering her blade.

The great beast tilted its head, its expression suddenly curious as it watched her replace the lance on her back.

A violent snarl escaped the huntress's mouth as she shot a vicious glare towards the beast, as she stalked past it to the water's edge, removing her socks and boots, rolling up her pants, and pulling the survival knife from her belt. Wading out until she was knee deep in the water, Fang stood and waited, grumbling softly to herself.

_You've gotten soft, Yun._

After standing still for a couple of moments, Fang finally caught sight of what she was looking for, and didn't hesitate to strike. The fish she pulled out of the water was fairly massive, as far as fish in the general area went; it would be large enough to feed her for both lunch and dinner. Pulling the fish off the knife, the huntress stomped back to where the zirnitra lay, silently watching her every move, and flopped the fish down in front of its face. After several moments of merely staring at one another, Fang finally let out a huff.

"Well, eat, you dumb thing."

The beast seemed to stare at her questioningly for several moments more, before, slowly, a large black tongue snaked from its mouth and wrapped itself around the fish. Slowly the tongue retracted, bringing the fish with it. The beast chewed the fish carefully, its eye trained on Fang the whole time. It seemed to trust her about as much as she trusted it, which, needless to say, wasn't very much. Once it swallowed, it stared at her for a few moments more, before finally blinking and looking up longingly at water that lapped the bank a few yards in front of its face.

Fang stared at it in disbelief for a few moments before letting out another huff of air.

"What, do I have to do everything?"

Stomping, rather childishly, over to the nearest broadleaf tree, she scaled up a little ways to pick the largest leave she could easily reach before jumping back to the ground.

"I can't believe I'm doing this."

Trekking back over to the water, Fang cupped the leaf and gathered the cool water into it, before retreating back to the fallen creature.

The zirnitra attempted to raise its head as she approached it again, but was entirely too weak to lift it more than an inch or so off the ground. Eyeing the beast somewhat suspiciously, Fang carefully lowered herself down beside it.

"You bite me, and you'll regret it."

Careful not to spill any water, Fang lowered the leaf to the creature's mouth. Seeming to understand the gesture, the great beast opened it mouth and allowed her to drain the contents of the leaf into it. When the leaf was empty, the zirnitra lowered its head back down and stared up at her curiously. Fang looked up at the beast's face and noted that its pupil had become rather round, making the beast seem considerably less intimidating and more…well, the huntress didn't want to say endearing or cute, but she supposed it looked something akin to it.

Returning to her feet, Fang stretched and let out a sigh. Retreating a couple paces, she leaned against a nearby tree and slid down to sit against its trunk. When her gaze returned to the zirnitra, she found it had found the strength to lift its head and was now staring at her. Narrowing her eyes, the huntress resisted the urge to snarl at the beast.

"What are you looking at?"

The beast didn't seem to be fazed by her tone, and instead continued to stare for several moments before slowly dipping its head towards her as if to say thank you.

Fang let out a breath through her nose.

"You're welcome."

_Forget going soft, you've gone completely out of your mind._

**_Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think_**


End file.
